Obvious Choice
by McKennaBlack
Summary: Claire has a wolf as a best friend and a boyfriend she adores. When she finds out the truth behind her relationship with one of them she has to make a decision that may push the other away.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! Apparently I don't write in the summer, but I'm back. Enjoy this story of Quil and Claire. Hopefully it's a little different than other Q&C stories. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1.

Quil and I sat side by side at my desk in my bedroom. His hand was on my shoulder. His mouth was next to my ear as he explained to me how to work out a quadratic equation. His deep voice and hot breath on my neck sent chills down my spine. I couldn't concentrate. All I could think about was Quil's hand on my shoulder and the fact that his hot breath made me shiver.

"Earth to Claire-Bear," he said, trying to get my attention. I suddenly realized he had finished giving me the directions. I looked up at him cautiously. His eyes were dangerous. I would lose all reasoning when I looked into those hazel-brown eyes with those long lashes. "What's up? Are you even paying attention?" Quil asked with a smirk. I loved that smirk.

I tried to get my crap together to answer him without embarrassing myself. "Um. I'm just tired." _Lame excuse Claire._

Recently, I discovered that I, Claire Cooper, am in love with Quil Ateara. Quil has been my best friend since I was two years old. He's always been around. He's been to every one of my birthday parties since he came into my life. I've dressed him up as a princess and even coordinated Halloween costumes more than once. He's kind of like my big brother. He's kind of like a father-figure as well since my dad hasn't been around much since we moved to the Quileute reservation when I was two. It's always been me, my mom Jan, my sister Katie, and Quil.

But normal people don't fall in love with their big brother or the father-figure in their life! It's sick. I feel the need to be with him all the time. There's an ache in my chest if I go too long without seeing him. It's been that way since I can remember. And to top it all off, he's around thirty years old, although Quil looks like he's about twenty-five, but still. I'm sixteen. I'll be seventeen in four weeks. It's not like I could suit him up and take him to the high school dance. People may frown upon that. Our close friends and family know nothing kinky is going on. They just know us as Quil and Claire, best friends, not a man robbing the cradle. Strangers think we're siblings. With our Native American background, we have some of the same features.

Nothing inappropriate has _ever_ happened between Quil and me, although I wouldn't mind it now. Quil is always a gentleman. Occasionally he'll hold my hand, but it depends on who we're hanging out with. He always kisses me on the head, sometimes the cheek. I don't remember ever kissing him on the mouth, but I've seen a picture of it from when I was little. It was an innocent puffer-fish kiss with our mouths together, cheeks blown out, and our hands making fins by our ears. Again, I wouldn't mind if he kissed me on the mouth now.

The reason Quil looks younger than he actually is, is because he's a werewolf. Not the traditional werewolf, but more like a shapeshifter, but he only shifts into a wolf. Quil is Quileute and only certain people in the tribe have the gene. Quil is one of them. Being a wolf makes him very large, very muscular, and very hot. Hot in both the literal and the figurative terms. He is always warm with a usual body temperature of one hundred and eight degrees and he's so pretty. If he knew I called him pretty, I would be in trouble. Quil belongs to a pack of other wolves that is headed by my uncle, Sam Uley, the alpha.

Some of my earliest memories are of Quil and me playing on the swing set in my backyard and walking around in the woods while he was in wolf form. I remember when I first discovered I was in love with Quil. It was towards the end of last summer, almost a year ago. Quil and I were at First Beach with our pack family. It was so warm and the beach was crowded with locals and tourists. Our group had our own section of the beach. The pack always drew lots of attention. As with Quil, every other member of the pack was huge and attractive with his naturally tanned skin and his lean muscular body. Guys were intimidated by them and the girls always swooned over them. Other than two or three members of the pack, all the swooning from the tourist chicks never seemed to faze the guys. They were utterly devoted to their girlfriends or wives.

We started a game of volleyball dividing the teams up evenly. We made sure both sides had an equal amount of wolves and an equal amount of wimpy girls like me. I'm not even sure why the wimpy girls were allowed to play, because other than serving the ball when it was our turn, we hardly ever touched the thing. The wolves with their quick reflexes would always get to the ball first.

Quil insisted on being on my team, which I didn't mind other than the fact that he never let me touch the ball. He always tried to protect me from things that flew at my face. Like I couldn't handle it. I was on the school's volleyball team for crying out loud.

_"Quil, will you please let me play?" I whined after he swooped in for the eightieth time to volley the ball back to the opposing team._

_"Sorry Claire-Bear," he replied with a sheepish grin._

_"Thank you," I sighed._

_The next serve from the opposite team hit me right in the face. I think Embry served it, but not sure because I'm certain I lost the half hour prior to me blacking out._

_In the darkness I could hear muffled arguing and frantic chattering before my eyes opened._

_"Here, use my shirt to soak up the blood," I heard Embry say. Great blood, I thought. Quil's gonna freak. He was more protective than my mother. My mother would brush things off with a kiss and a Band-Aid where Quil would start to spaz out and want to take me to the emergency room._

_The throbbing between my eyes finally registered in my brain and I started to moan from the pain. The warm arms around me gripped tighter._

_"Claire-Bear. Open your eyes. Wake up," I heard Quil's voice and it sounded like he was going into pure freak-out mode._

_"Stop. I'm fine," I replied, my eyes were still closed._

_"Just open your eyes so we can check them out. Please," Quil whispered._

_I struggled to open my eyes because the sunlight made the throbbing hurt worse, but when I did I swear that Quil, my Quil, looked like an angel. Hokey, I know, but it's true! The sun was positioned behind his head just so, that he seemed to glow. His dark hair looked like there was a halo just above it. His hazel-brown eyes showed so much love and concern. Ok, so I'm not sure the amount or type of love in that look, but there was certainly a lot of concern. When I finally focused on Quil's face I could feel my mouth turn up into a dorky smile that I couldn't control. Although I loved Quil, for some reason at that moment I saw him differently. I loved him more than just a best friend and a brother and a father-figure. I saw him as my knight-in-shining armor, my protector, and all those other fantasy Prince Charming roles that I made him play when I was little. I'm in love with Quil Ateara. And, for just a glint of a second, I could have sworn I saw that same feeling in his eyes too. So yeah, I was concussed at the time so it probably didn't really happen._

_I heard a couple female voices from our audience gasp and then giggle. Do they know what I'm thinking? I thought and suddenly blushed._

_As predicted, Quil drove me straight to the hospital. I had a broken nose and two black eyes that lasted a couple of weeks. Luckily school was out for summer break and I could hide my ugly face at home. Quil was there to wait on me hand and foot, which only made me fall in love with him more. I received a ton of apology flowers from Embry._

Like any other tragic love story of a teenage girl, our love was one sided. I loved Quil, but he did not love me. Well, not in the same way I loved him. He told me he loved me all the time. But in the "love ya kid" kind of way that usually comes with a light punch on the shoulder. He did hug me often, but lately I tried to avoid it because his touch made me all tingly inside and my feelings seemed highly inappropriate.

This is where I sit now, at my desk in my bedroom avoiding any type of physical contact with my thirty year old best friend, who happens to be a gorgeous male shapeshifter, because the slightest touch from him makes my insides turn to jelly. But at that moment, with Quil's warm breath on my ear rattling off algebra, my insides are more like the consistency of lava, sending a warm sensation oozing from my ear down throughout my body.

"Well, if you're tired maybe you should go to bed. You still have tomorrow to work on this," Quil said as he scooped up my math homework. The way he said 'bed' made a tremor run down my spine. I was totally losing it.

Tomorrow is Sunday. Sundays are Quil-and-Claire-Day, or Q&C-Day, and they have been since I can remember. We always planned to spend most of the day together either by ourselves or with the family. Quil usually let me sleep in unless he had major plans for me that involved an all day road trip.

"What do you have planned for tomorrow?" I asked. "I don't want to spend my time doing homework." It was only the first week of school and I already had a ton of it.

"Nothing big. I thought we'd go window shopping so I could get some ideas for your birthday," he replied with a wiggle of his eyebrow while he looked through my _Cosmo_ _Girl_ magazine. We usually went to the mall in Port Angeles. That wasn't a shocker. Quil wasn't one for surprising me with gifts. He liked to know exactly what I wanted. I could guess what he was getting me because he usually gave himself away. Quil wasn't very subtle.

"I'll take you to lunch, maybe get some ice cream," he continued.

"Cool, but no ice cream! I've gained like two pounds last week," I groaned. I walked over to my full length mirror and checked out my butt. My jeans were starting to get a little snug.

"Does my butt look like it's getting big?" I asked with my eyes still on my jeans. When Quil didn't answer I looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was staring at my bottom, but not in a pervy, creepy way. It was more like he was trying to figure something out.

"Well?" I asked. Quil's eyes jerked up towards mine for a second and he knew I caught him staring. His eyes flashed back to the magazine.

"You're not fat," he mumbled, flipping hastily through the pages.

"That's not what I asked," I mumbled back. I noticed I was starting to fill out more, which I didn't mind in the boob department. But with my hips and butt areas, I did mind. My mom says that I'm getting my womanly curves. My Aunt Emily tells me it's my hour-glass figure. I think it's just fat. I took one more look at my butt, sighed, and walked away from the mirror.

"You look beautiful," Quil said as his warm arms wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest. His touch started the lava flowing in my body again. When he said things like that and made me feel that way, I almost believed him. I almost believed he saw me the way I saw him.

"You're going to make one guy very lucky some day," he continued. He always said things like that. He would give me compliments and then bring up that "one guy". _What guy is that Quil? 'Cause it's apparently not you._

"Sure, sure." I replied and playfully pushed him away, trying to hide my disappointment.

Just then my sister Katie walked by my bedroom door towards her room and stops when she saw Quil.

"Hey Quil," she said to him with her total "I'm easy" look on her face. She's eighteen and gorgeous. We have the same straight dark hair, but her eyes are lighter than mine, hazel, and they seem to pop from her face. They give her kind of an exotic look. She doesn't have the hour-glass figure. She's still skinny. I hate her. I ignored her and started putting my homework in my backpack.

"'Sup Katie?" Quil answered. I glanced in his direction and noticed he was still flipping through my magazine. He wasn't ogling her like all the other guys around here did.

"What are you guys doing tomorrow? If you're going shopping, can I bum a ride?" she asked in her flirty tone. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure!" Quil said a little too enthusiastically. I immediately sent him a death glare, but he didn't notice and continued. "We're leaving around eleven, is that ok?"

"Ok! Thanks!" Katie giggled and scurried off to her room.

When she left the room Quil looked up at me and _finally_ noticed my death glare.

"What?"

"I don't want her to go," I hissed out in a whisper so she wouldn't hear me.

"Why?" He totally didn't get it.

"Forget it." I didn't feel like explaining. I didn't want to tell him that I didn't enjoy trying on clothes with my sister who was much smaller than me. I didn't want to tell him that I didn't enjoy watching her flirt with him mercilessly. I had a feeling she knew I liked him and I think she liked him too. She uses her eighteen-year-old "adult" status and the fact that she isn't jailbait anymore to throw it in my face.

Quil-and-Claire-Day was gonna suck.

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**Please let me know what you think. I've been working on the first few chapters FOREVER. I've changed my story line three times. I think I'm going to like the final version and I hope you do too. Please send me a review and let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm here! I'm here! I usually like to post every week. Last week got away from me. Enjoy!**

There used to be a time when I liked my sister. We used to get along well. We used to play together all the time and were practically best friends. Katie and I are a year and a half apart. Quil would play with both of us because Katie and I were inseparable. Once we started butting heads, Quil would always take my side. That always proved to me that I was right and she was just being stupid. I always wondered if Katie resented me for Quil agreeing with me or choosing to hang out with me instead of her. Sometimes I think she does because she seems to try really hard to catch his attention around me and takes every chance she can get to prove me wrong.

For instance, Q&C-Day has once again been bombarded by Katie. I was hoping she would sleep in and miss going to the mall with us, but Quil, being the nice guy that he is, made sure we waited for her. He told me to "be nice." I only huffed in reply and threw myself on the couch to wait. I know I was being immature, but come on! This was Q&C-Day, not Q&C&K-Day.

Not only did Katie barge in on our plans, but she insisted on riding shotgun, we had to listen to her music in the car (it was up so loudly I couldn't hear what they were talking about in the front seat), and once we got to the mall she snaked her arm around Quil's and wouldn't let go. He just let her, like it was natural to cuddle up to my hot sister. He did offer up his other arm to me, but I shrugged it off thinking it would look stupid for the three of us to walk in a chain throughout the stores. I just continued to scowl and fell behind a step or two.

"How does this look?" Katie asked about the seventh dress she tried on. It looked just as fabulous as the last six. We were both crammed into a small dressing room behind a curtain.

"Fine," I offered. I didn't want to stroke her ego anymore.

"I don't look dumpy?" she asked, twirling around to check out her back side.

"No."

"What's your problem anyway?" she finally gave up with her chipper mood to sneer at me. "You've been acting all emo since we left this morning."

"I'm not acting emo," I sneered back, but I knew I was.

"Time of the month?" she asked and I quickly tried to shush her. Quil was just outside the dressing room and his wolf senses could pick up everything. "Oh please, like he doesn't know you get your period. You're almost seventeen and you have boobs. How's the patch coming in down there?"

"Shut up!" I hiss through my teeth. Katie started to giggle out of control. I knew she was trying to embarrass me.

It was already embarrassing enough that Quil knew I had started my period and was blossoming into womanhood, as described in the lame Health class video, but he knew exactly when it was happening. Remember the wolf senses I mentioned? The whole smell thing is enhanced too.

When I was twelve years old I started my period. I knew it was coming because my mom talked to me about it and Katie started when she was younger than me. It's wasn't a big deal, in fact to me it meant I was finally getting older.

I was waiting one Q&C-Day for Quil to pick me up. As soon as he walked into the door he was alarmed.

"Are you ok Claire? Are you bleeding?" Quil asked. He was freaking out and checking me over.

"No, I'm not bleeding, I'm fine." I looked at him like he was crazy. I was used to him panicking when I was hurt, but I wasn't hurt. I didn't realize what his senses picked up until I heard Katie snickering from across the room. I looked over at my mom and she was trying to stifle a laugh.

Then I understood.

I quickly ran out the door and crawled into the car. My mom must have filled Quil in after I stormed out because his panic-mode had vanished and he didn't bring it up again. I felt awkward for the rest of the day and I couldn't look him in the eyes. It was so devastating to me that a boy knew what was going on in my nether regions.

I slowly peeked out the curtains after Katie was finished trying on her pile of clothes to see if Quil was outside and if he perhaps overheard anything. He was nowhere in sight. I stepped out into the main floor and saw him looking through dresses.

Unlike most guys Quil was good at the whole shopping thing. He knew what I liked and helped me pick out clothes. He didn't enjoy shopping, but he tolerated it because I liked to.

"How about this one," he asked when I approached him. He held up a baby blue sundress with yellow flowers. It was really cute.

"She's tried on a ton already. I think she found one," I replied. I didn't feel like sitting in the dressing room with her anymore.

"Not for Katie, for you. For your birthday," Quil said with that smirk I loved.

"Oh. You don't have to. I don't know where I'll wear it," I mumbled. I tried not to take advantage of Quil's generosity. He didn't have a lot of money and he spent too much of what he did have on me.

"Don't you have a school dance coming up?" he offered.

"I do, but I didn't plan on going," I grumbled.

"Ok." Quil's face fell a little and he put the dress back on the shelf. I instantly felt bad for turning him down.

"Karla has been begging me to go stag with her so maybe I will go," I gave in and grabbed the dress off the rack and headed for the dressing room. Quil's face lit up again and followed behind me. Karla is my second-runner-up as best friend after Quil.

"Do you want me to come out and show you?" I asked Quil before slipping into the room.

"Sure," he said and plopped on the man couch they had sitting near the dressing rooms.

After changing into the dress I checked myself out in the mirror before showing Quil. He had good taste. The dress was cute and made me look good. It hugged my body and accentuated my good parts. I had just a little bit of cleavage showing. If he wouldn't buy it for me, I'd spend my own damn money. I babysat a lot throughout the summer.

"So?" I asked as I twirled around in front of Quil. Katie sat closely beside him with her purchases at her feet.

"Sexy chick!" Katie called out, followed by a cat-call that made me blush. I looked over at Quil and he looked at me with a blank face. Katie looked at him and grinned. She had to nudge him to snap him out of his daze.

Quil cleared his throat and stood up. "Um, you're not getting it," he said as he quickly pushed me back towards the small curtained room.

"What?" Katie asked, the same time I asked, "Why?"

"You can't go out looking like that," he whispered as he looked around the store. I wasn't sure what he was looking for. It seemed as though he was trying to hide me.

"What are you, her dad?" Katie mumbled. We used that line a lot when Quil was being overprotective.

"You're the one that picked it out!" I countered.

"Yeah, but I didn't know you'd look like…that," he said, eyeing me up and down. I was intrigued by his reaction to my body.

"Like what?" I smirked, trying to get some information from him.

Quil seemed flustered as he tried to find an answer. "You're sixteen!" he finally blurted.

"Almost seventeen," I snapped back.

"Please, she wears a bikini that shows off more than that," Katie replied. She was actually on my side.

"Whatever, but _I'm_ not buying it." Quil insisted.

"Fine, I'll buy it myself," I said and stomped back to the room to change.

"Fine. I'm hungry. I'll meet you at the food court," Quil grumbled and left the store.

"It really is a cute dress. It looks great on you," Katie said with a genuine smile while we were leaving the store with purchases in hand. I looked at her skeptically. "What? Can't I compliment my own sister?" Katie loops her arm around mine.

"Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?" I asked, trying to keep the disgust out of my voice.

"I'm always nice to you. You're the one who grumbles whenever I'm around," Kate replies.

"Nuh-uh," I countered. It's all I could think to say. Katie gave me a dubious look with a quirk of her eyebrow.

I tried to think of an example when Katie wasn't nice to me to throw it in her face and actually couldn't come up with anything. She was usually nice to me, but did pick on me from time to time; she was never mean about it. We had the general teenage-sisters-relationship. We fought over clothes, shoes, and who ate the last remnants of cereal. Nothing too serious. We never fought over boys, until now. But I wouldn't consider us fighting over Quil. He wouldn't choose between us. We were both way too young. If anyone won the fight, it would be Katie because she was older and prettier. I decided to just voice my concerns.

"Katie, do you like Quil?" I asked and quickly glanced in her eyes. There seemed to be an amused smile on her face.

"Yes, I like Quil."

"I mean, _really_ like Quil. Like boyfriend material?"

"Eh, he's not my type," she responded with a shrug. "Sure he's hot and nice and we have fun, but I don't have that _draw_ to him, you know?" she replies with a knowing look. Does she know the draw I have towards him? "Do _you_ like Quil, like boyfriend material?" she asks slowly.

"What?" I replied nervously. "Me? No." I was sure I was giving myself away with my behavior.

"It's pretty obvious Claire!" Katie laughs. _What's obvious?_

"What's obvious?" Quil asked as he snuck up behind us, verbalizing my thoughts. I threw a look at Katie warning her to keep her trap shut.

"The dress Claire bought is smokin'," Katie giggled. Her answer didn't make sense to Quil's question, but I sighed in relief the she didn't reveal anything. Quil grumbled something after he glanced at my bag. He really didn't like my dress.

"I got your food already," Quil said as he led us towards our table in the food court. Katie and I always ordered the same thing when we visited the mall. Quil was good at remembering things like that.

Katie chatted away about all the clothes she bought and how she must have gone down a size. She said something about being annoyed that she couldn't gain any weight even if she tried. Was she trying to make me hate her more? I only half-listened while eating my orange chicken and would roll my eyes when Quil glanced up at me. He gave me his "now Clair-Bear…be good" look and then smirked before going back to his four slices of pizza.

"Hey Claire," I heard from a familiar voice behind me. I caught a quick glance of Quil's overprotective expression before I turned around to greet the person.

"Oh, hi Jason," I greeted him and gave his two friends, Marshal and Kevin, a shy smile. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked. Jason was a year older, a senior like Katie, and creeping up on eighteen. He was tall and skinny with a baby face. He had light brown hair with brown eyes. He was kind of a smaller version of Quil, but not as pretty.

Jason had suddenly started talking to me at school and I heard from my friend Karla that she heard he wanted to ask me out to the school dance. I always got nervous around him because I was waiting for him to ask me. I still didn't know how I would answer if he did ask. I didn't like him the same way I liked Quil, but he was my age and it was a more realistic relationship to get into.

"We just came out for something to do. We might catch a movie," Jason said and glanced up at Quil and slightly nodded his head at him before continuing. Quil's face stayed neutral, but he didn't look away from Jason. I heard Katie snicker.

"Um, are you going to school tomorrow?" Jason squeaked out. I could tell he was nervous. Quil could do that to a person, especially if that person was one-hundred pounds smaller than him.

"Yeah, I'll be at school," I chuckled at the obvious question. Jason was kind of cute when he was nervous.

"Ok," Jason glanced back up to Quil and quickly looked away, "I'll talk to you tomorrow." He spun around as I was saying good-bye and parted through his friends. His friends looked confused over the exchange. Jason was a lot more confident at school when he talked to me. His friends must have noticed the change in attitude.

"Who's that?" Quil asked as soon as Jason and his friends walked away. He still had a blank look on his face. At least it was better than his over protective look.

"Jason Grayson, from school," I answered.

"Jason Grayson," Quil snorted. "Stupid name," he mumbled. Before I could reply Katie piped in.

"He's cu-ute!" she sang. "He's in my class. An older man Claire!" I didn't reply and went back to eating my food.

"I think he likes you," Katie continued to tease and glanced over to Quil. I looked at Quil and he had a sneer on his face as he ate, but didn't contribute to the conversation. "Does he have a car? Do you think he'll ask you out to the dance?"

Quil's eyes darted up to mine waiting for my answer. I just shrugged. I didn't want to have this conversation in front of him, but Katie wouldn't let up.

"Did you notice how nervous he was to talk to you?" Katie taunted.

"I'd be nervous too if some grump was flashing me the stink eye," I replied and gave Quil an accusatory look. He looked up from his food and his face softened, but didn't totally lighten up.

"Sorry Claire-Bear," Quil replied.

"Yeah, who shot your puppy?" Katie asked Quil and started laughing at her own joke. "Get it? Puppy?" Katie knew about the wolves, it was hard to keep something like that from her growing up. She took all the opportunities she got to use the pun.

Katie's joke seemed to help Quil lighten up a little more. He reached across the table and snatched an eggroll off her almost full plate of food.

"Hey!"

"Like you're gonna eat it, skinny," Quil shot back with a laugh.

I looked down at my plate, that was almost completely cleared, and immediately stopped eating.

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**I would love to hear what you think. Please send me a review! **

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Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**I see I have a lot of new followers! Send me a message and let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you.**

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Chapter 3

Algebra class was especially brutal on Monday morning. Even though Quil and I finished my homework the night before, by the time class came around that morning I forgot how to work out the problem. Since I was a junior I was supposed to be in Advanced Algebra, or at least geometry, but I sucked so bad I was placed in the class for the math-challenged students. I hate math. It didn't make sense to me. I handed in my test to the teacher hoping I at least made a "C" for a grade.

I was frustrated when I left the classroom towards my locker. My friend Karla met up with me in the hall and noticed my mood.

"Math get to you again?" she asked. Karla knew my hatred for numbers.

"Ugh," I groaned. "Quil helped me with my homework and I understood it at the time. With tests I totally blank."

"Don't you need to know how to figure out math problems to cook?" Karla asked. I wanted to be a chef or a baker when I "grew up." I had basically taken over the dinner duties at home and loved coming up with experimental recipes. They usually turned out good. At least no one told me otherwise. Quil appreciated my cooking, at least.

"Fractions and conversions aren't my problem," I huffed. Karla and I shared a locker so we both struggled to exchange all our stuff for the next class.

"Hey Claire," I heard Jason greet me. This time he was alone and his confidence was back.

"Hi Jason," I replied. Karla quickly grabbed her stuff to leave with a quick good-bye and a smile. "Did you get anything at the mall yesterday?" I continued, trying to avoid any awkward silence.

"Nah, we were just hanging out. You?" He asked as he fidgeted with the corner of his text book.

"Just a dress…"

The bell rang indicating we had two minutes to get to our next class.

"Hey, listen," Jason started after the bell was done ringing. _Uh-oh, here it comes,_ I thought. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime? Maybe to the beach before it gets too cold or the mall, since there's not much to do around here."

It wasn't the question I thought he was going to ask, but it was basically the same. I never did decide how I was going to answer the impending question, but I knew I had to make a decision quick. Jason was a nice enough guy and he was kind of cute. Why not? I thought about Quil and how he acted towards Jason at the mall. What would Quil think about me going out with Jason? Why should I worry what Quil thought of Jason? Quil was just my best friend that I happened to have a stupid crush on. There was no way he wanted me in any type of romantic relationship.

I noticed Jason was staring at me, waiting for an answer and looking a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, yeah," I finally blurted out. Jason's worried look turned into a relieved smile.

"Ok, how about Friday night? I can pick you up around five o'clock?" He asked with a large grin on his face. I couldn't help but smile back. He had a dimple in his left cheek that I never noticed before.

"Sure." I replied and immediately noticed I sounded indifferent. "Sounds great!" I added. Jason's grin seemed to get wider.

"Ok," Jason replied and sped off to class with a small wave; that wide grin still plastered on his face.

I stood by my locker a little dazed. I was happy that a boy asked me out. A cute, older boy asked me out. I was happy and nervous because this was all new to me. It was nice to know that I attracted the opposite sex, but I had absolutely no experience in the whole dating thing. No one has ever asked me out before. It also made me nervous that I would have to tell Quil about it. Not that I needed to get his permission or anything. I felt like I was betraying him, which was ridiculous. It's just that I don't hide things from Quil. I couldn't keep secrets from him, except maybe the huge secret that I'm in love with him.

The final bell rang. I was tardy for History. _Fudge_. I sighed and immediately headed towards the office for a tardy slip, knowing the History teacher Mr. Katz would send me there to get one anyway.

After we were released from school I gathered up my homework and started walking to the Quil's shop. Quil worked as a mechanic at Oceanfront Auto with a few other pack members. On nice days I either walk to the shop after school or walk to the store to hang out with Ms. Call, Embry's mom, and Mrs. Bass, Tala's mom and wait for Quil to get out of work. Sometimes I would help them out with the cash register or stock shelves for extra money. But Mrs. Call and Mrs. Bass were food pushers, handing over free ice cream all the time like they did when I was little, so I opted for going directly to the shop and working on my homework, avoiding the extra calories.

The bell on the shop door announced my arrival and my eyes immediately found Quil's peeking from behind the hood of a car. He was talking to the car's owner and quickly flashed me a smile. I actually blushed, embarrassing myself, and gave him a small wave.

"Hey Claire-Bear," I heard Embry's voice come from underneath a car. He knows I hate it when anyone other than Quil or my Aunt Emily calls me that. I glared at Embry without a reply and headed for the office.

Kim was sitting behind the desk filing a few things. She looked up and greeted me when I shut the door behind me after I stepped in.

"Hi Claire! How was school?" Kim asked.

"Eh, ok," I replied, thinking about my stupid math test. I looked out the large, glass office window into the shop to see if Quil was still talking to his customer.

Kim was my go-to girl for conversations I didn't want to have with my mom, sister or Aunt Emily. She and her husband Jared didn't have any kids yet, so she didn't really have the "mom-ness" about her. Plus, she wasn't opinionated at all. Kim was one of the sweetest people I knew.

"A guy at school asked me out today," I told her, getting right to the point. I didn't have much time knowing Quil would come in soon to greet me.

"Really, who is it?" She asked with a kind smile. I saw her eyes dart out towards the shop and it made me look back to check on Quil again.

"His name is Jason and he's really cute, but I don't know what to do," I whined.

"What do you mean you don't know what to do?" she looked confused. "What did you tell him?"

"I said yes and we're going out Friday," I replied.

"So what's the problem?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders like dating wasn't a big deal.

It took me a moment to answer her because I didn't want to give away any feelings I may have for Quil.

"I just don't know what to do about Quil," I mumbled. I tried not to show any emotion, but I couldn't hide it from Kim.

A slow smile crept over Kim's face. It was a knowing smile. It was a "you're in love with Quil" kind of smile. Luckily she didn't voice her observation.

"He'll be fine with it," she tried to brush it off, but I just sighed in response. "You don't want to tell him?" she finally asked.

"No, but I _have_ to, you know?" I tried to explain how there wasn't anything that I kept from Quil. He knew everything about me and I wanted to tell him everything about me. But not this. Kim nodded as if she understood.

"Are you worried about what he'll do to the poor boy?" Kim giggled.

"No. I know he wouldn't do anything to piss me off or embarrass me, it's just…" I didn't finish because Kim cut me off.

"Are you going with us next Sunday for a girl's day when Leah comes to town?" Kim asked. I was caught off guard with the interruption and change of subject. I looked at Kim and saw her eyes quickly glance through the window. When I turned around to see what she was looking at, Quil opened the door to greet me.

"Hey Claire-Bear," he said and bent down to where I was sitting to kiss the top of my head. The lava sensation flowed from where his lips touched the top of my head down to my toes.

"Hey," I squeaked out. When I looked up into Quil's eyes I could feel my silly grin appear. I immediately cut it off and chanced a glance towards Kim. Her face beamed again with her knowing smile. That Kim was a sucker for someone in love, even if it was a stupid teenage crush.

"Did I hear you're going out with those crazy ladies?" Quil asked. Thank goodness for Kim's knowledge of the wolves' extra sensitive senses. Her husband Jared is also a wolf so she knew Quil would be able to hear her comment before he even opened the door.

"Probably Sunday. Will that cut in too much on Q&C-Day?" Kim asked.

"Nah, we can do something when you come back," Quil looked at me to make sure that was ok. I nodded. "Or we could do something Friday night instead."

"Are you ready to go already?" I asked Quil as I jumped up off the chair and grabbed my backpack. I didn't want to tell Quil about my plans for Friday night, just yet. And, I didn't want to have this conversation in front of Kim.

"Sure, my last customer just left," Quil answered and held out his hand. "Shall I take you home m'lady?" he asked with his fake British accent he started back in my princess, dress-up years. It always made me giggle. I didn't disappoint this time and gave a silly laugh as I grabbed his hand. Sometimes I totally embarrass myself.

I glanced back at Kim giving her a nervous look, but she gave me a thumbs-up gesture as we said our good-byes.

The whole ride home was awkward for me. Quil thankfully didn't notice my lack of participation in the conversation we were having. I tried to think of ways to just blurt out the plans of my date, but for some reason I was too freaked out. Why the hell would I be freaked out? I wanted to ease right into the information. I didn't want to catch Quil off guard.

Unfortunately for me I didn't have to mention anything, Katie helped out.

"I heard Jason asked you out Friday," Katie sang with excitement when Quil and I walked through the door.

"What?" Quil, Mom and I all said at the same time…all in different tones.

My reaction was more like a defeated sigh because the information had to come out that way. Mom's reaction was more intrigued with a quick glance to Quil. Quil's reaction was more of a "oh hell no," overprotective, fatherly grunt.

I gave Katie a serious glare. She didn't take it seriously because she just snorted and sipped at her soda.

"The kid from the mall?" Quil asked. I nodded. His reaction changed from his initial anger to, what almost looked like, hurt.

"I've never heard you mention him before. What's his last name?" Mom asked me. I could feel Quil's eyes staring at me. I didn't look back.

"Grayson. Jason Grayson," Katie giggled.

"Oh, I know him. His parents are really nice," Mom answered Katie. "What are you two going to do?" she asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders, trying to make it out like it wasn't a big deal. But it was a big deal! I was going out on my first date with a cute boy that I didn't even like as much as I liked my best friend and I wasn't sure why.

"When you find out where you're going I'll drop you off," Quil said with absolutely no emotion in his voice. The three of us gave him a curious look. I couldn't tell if he was upset or happy. Was it jealousy? I've never heard that tone from him before.

"He's picking me up around five o'clock," I replied. There was no way I was going to have my intimidating werewolf best friend drop me off for a date.

"Hell no!" Quil practically shouted. There's the emotion! "You're not getting into a car with some punk who's only had his license for a short time."

"He's had his license for about a year and he's not a punk!" I suddenly became defensive of Jason, but once I said it I did sound kind of immature. But Quil didn't know Jason from Adam.

"I'm taking you _and_ I'm picking you up," Quil said with finality. I just stood there with my mouth gaping. I wasn't sure what I expected his reaction to be, but it certainly wasn't this. I looked over at my Mom, my _parent,_ for some help.

I was mortified. "What? As my bodyguard! No way!" I started to stomp towards my room.

"I don't feel comfortable with some kid driving you around in his car. Alone." Quil grumbled.

"Mom?" I looked at her for a little help.

"He has a point." She said it like she didn't want to admit it.

"But I'm almost seventeen!"

"You're right," Mom agreed. Whose side is she on anyway?

"I'm just thinking about your safety," Quil added.

"I'm a big girl Quil. I can handle myself."

"Claire," Quil sighed, reacting to my hissy fit.

"Forget it. If Jason can't pick me up and I need a guard dog, I'm not going. It's won't be a real date," I continued. "Are you happy now?" I glared at Quil, but didn't wait for an answer. I immediately felt bad for the hurt look on Quil's face, but I continued to my room and slammed the door.

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**Here comes jealous Quil! Let me know what you think please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A great big thank you and hello to all my new readers who added me to their favs or story alerts. Thanks to those who reviewed as well. I love it!**

**Since a lot of you think a jealous Quil is a hot Quil, then here's some more hot Quil. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 4

The conversation from the other room was nothing but a murmur through my bedroom door, but I knew they were talking about me. I left Mom, Quil, and Katie in the kitchen after my teenage hissy fit because Quil was being way too uptight about me going on a date, alone, with a seventeen year old boy.

I could hear the anxious tone in Quil's deep, booming voice. I could hear Mom's soothing, monotone voice, the voice she uses to talk some sense into Quil. I couldn't understand a word of it, but I could only imagine. I could tell Quil thought I was too young to be dating and I'm sure Mom was giving him one of her talks where she tried to explain to him that I was a teenage girl and he needed to just let me grow up. I've overheard that conversation a lot lately and I didn't understand why Quil was taking this whole growing up thing so hard. My mom wasn't and she's my parent! Maybe it was because she's a girl too?

I sighed and shoved my ear buds into my ears to drown out the mumbles from the other room with some music.

After a few minutes there was a knock on the door. I knew it wasn't Quil because my body reacted to him when he was near, but I could tell he was still in the house. The tingling sensation in my chest was still present, but it wasn't as strong as it would be if he were on the other side of my bedroom door.

Katie's head peeked in the door with a goofy smile on her face. I sighed and sank back into my bed, turning my back towards her.

"Hey," she said as she tapped my shoulder. When I didn't reply Katie sat next to me and shoved my shoulder. "Come on!" she sang. "Don't be mad at me, I was just out there scheming," she practically whispered the last part.

"I am mad at you because you just _had_ to blurt it out like that!" I replied and tried to push her away. Katie pushed my arm back and stretched out next to me on my bed.

"I knew you wouldn't tell him, so I just helped out a little," Katie shrugged.

"How did you even find out anyway?" I asked.

"The school isn't that big Claire," she replied. "Besides, I walked by while you and Jason were talking and you didn't even notice me. I think you're crushing on him!"

"Shut up," was all I said. I didn't want to confirm or deny how I felt about Jason. I didn't know how I felt about him. But I did know that I wanted to go out with him and find out if I did like him or not.

"Are you still mad at me?" Katie asked after a moment of silence.

"No," I groaned. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just annoyed how everyone thinks I'm a friggin' baby."

"Well I don't think you're a baby," Katie responded. "Besides, you know how Quil can be."

"Yeah, but he wasn't like that with you. You don't need a body guard to go out on dates," I snorted at the thought of Quil following Jason and me around at the mall, hovering over us and watching every move Jason made.

"Well I'm not _you_ Claire," Katie stated like it was obvious. "He's always been that way with you."

"Why do you think that is?" I asked Katie. She opened up the subject so I thought I would get her take on the whole situation. "Quil has always been around. He's always so overprotective of me, but not you as much. It seems like he actually likes to hang out with me, even when I'm bitchy…I just don't understand."

Katie didn't respond. She just shrugged, but wouldn't look at me.

"What do you know?" I asked.

"I know nothing," she replied. Katie was a bad liar.

"He's not like, my real Dad or something like that, is he?" I asked totally disgusted. I couldn't have a crush on my father! That's just sick.

Katie responded with a huge shocked laugh. "Oh God no! That's nasty Claire," Katie giggled. I sighed with relief. "He was like thirteen or fourteen when you were born. You think Mom would be gettin' busy with a teenager? Gross." I laughed too because it was ridiculous.

"But that would explain why Dad left," I mumbled, not really meaning to say it out loud.

"You know it's not Mom's fault," Katie replied with a sad smile. When my dad Jack left, Katie took it the hardest. We still aren't sure why he did leave. Dad just left one night, but I can't remember what happened. Katie said she vaguely remembers some arguing between Mom and Dad and then Dad gave us both a kiss before he walked out the door. Mom never wanted to talk about it. Whenever anyone else mentions what happened, they say "Jan and Jack didn't see eye-to-eye on certain matters." I still don't know what that means.

"So, I talked Quil into letting you go on the date without a body guard," Katie said, changing the subject.

"What do you mean?" I eyed her skeptically.

"I'm going to call up Rob and we'll go on a double date," she said like it was simple.

Rob Peterson has been dying to go out with Katie forever. Rob is tall and built like one of the wolves, but he isn't a part of the pack. His build comes from genuine hard work. Even though he could pass for part of the wolf pack, he doesn't carry himself as gracefully as they do. Rob's kind of awkward in a nice, charming kind of way and terribly shy. It's like his personality and actions don't fit his body.

Quil even tried to encourage Katie to date Rob because he liked the kid. Rob would help out at the shop during the summers. Katie never agreed to go out with him though. She said it had something to do with the word "peter" in his name. She always had the stupidest reasons to turn guys down. Katie was very popular, but not in the slutty way, and could probably go out with anyone she wanted. She was a huge flirt, but she didn't date a whole lot. I think her pickiness was due to the lack of acceptable guys at our school.

"Quil was ok with that arrangement?" I was waiting for a catch.

"Yep, as long as Rob drove all of us."

"So, I have to tell Jason I can go, but he can't drive?" Katie nodded. "That's stupid because Rob and Jason are almost the same age."

"Quil doesn't make sense sometimes. But Quil does know Rob. Just tell Jason that I wanted to double. Oh!" she said and stood up quickly. "I better ask Rob out first and then I'll have him talk to Jason. Sound good?"

"What if Rob says no?" I asked. Katie shook her head slightly and scoffed at me like I was being ridiculous. She was silently telling me that of course Rob would say yes. He would change any plans he had to go out with Katie. He'd probably start writing his wedding vows after they got off the phone.

"Oh Heavens, what was I thinking?" I said dramatically and rolled my eyes. Katie giggled and took off for the phone.

Quil came in behind her. He peeked in the door looking nervous.

"Hi." I said and offered a small smile. I couldn't ever stay mad at Quil. He never did anything to piss me off other than being a little overbearing with the whole safety issue.

Quil relaxed when he noticed that I wasn't going to throw him any more fierce looks. I moved to the far side of my bed so that he could sit down. Quil took the invitation and to my surprise stretched out next to me and propped himself on his side, his head resting on his hand. I could feel my body flush in response to the man lying beside me. I looked up at the ceiling and sighed, wondering if I would ever get over my infatuation with Quil.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," I finally said.

"I'm sorry I was acting like a _guard dog_," he apologized with that hot smirk of his.

"You're not sorry," I smiled and rolled my eyes. "That's who you are. You can't help it."

"Yeah, you're right," Quil mumbled. "It's just…what if…" he was trying to work out what he wanted to say, but ended up stumbling nervously instead. He did this all the time when he was trying not to upset me.

"If anything happened to you while you were out with him, I don't know what I would do," he finally blurted out.

"Yeah, I know. The big, brown wolf will go all beastly on his ass," I chuckled. I can only imagine what Quil would do if Jason acted disrespectful or was inappropriate in any way. When I looked at Quil he wasn't smiling or chuckling back. His look was serious and he looked pained. My smile dropped.

"Right, that too," he replied before I could ask him what was wrong. "Are you alright with the whole double date idea?"

"I have no other choice, do I?" I asked hopefully. I kind of wanted him to tell me that _he_ was my other choice. I wished he would say he didn't want me to go out with Jason because he wanted to be with me.

"You could not go out with him," Quil replied with a hopeful look. I was stunned for a second because I thought maybe he was going to say what I wanted him to say, but I quickly brushed the idea away.

"What's the big deal with me going out on a date? Other than my physical safety!" I quickly added the last part because I knew that was the main reason. "You know I'm going to be seventeen in like twenty-eight days."

Quil shook his head with an amused grin. I gave him a daily countdown to my birthday. It started on the one-hundredth day mark.

"Oh really? I almost forgot," He said sarcastically. "I don't know this Jason kid, Claire-Bear," Quil suddenly became serious and answered my previous question. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't. It's just one date Quil," I sighed and propped myself up on my side, copying Quil's pose. "And possibly a date to the dance," I shrugged. "It's not like I'm in love with him or anything." I mumbled the last part. I could feel my cheeks heat up. I chanced a quick peek in Quil's eyes. He was staring at me intently.

"What? I'm _not_ in love with Jason, Quil," I confirmed to make sure my blush didn't give him the wrong idea.

"You might go to the dance with him?" Quil asked. I misinterpreted the look.

"He hasn't asked me yet," I shrugged. "I heard he was going to though."

"And you'll tell him yes when he does?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "No one else has asked me and I don't want to go by myself. Unless he ends up being a total jerk."

Quil looked down at his hand that played with the frill on one of my pillows. I watched as the expression on his face turned from blank to mischievous.

"Do we have to have the sex talk again?" he asked with a crooked grin.

"Ewwww…shut up, no!" I groaned and moved the pillow from behind my head to cover my face.

"I don't know Claire-Bear," Quil continued. "If you're going to start seeing guys, you should know a thing or two." I could hear the teasing tone in his voice.

"Stop!" my muffled voice came from under the pillow. "I'm not having this conversation with you!"

I could feel the bed shake from Quil's quiet laughter. I swung my arm out and felt it smack his hard chest. The contact made Quil's chuckles erupt. He loved to embarrass me.

"What's wrong Claire-Bear? You used to talk to me about it all the time," he teased and poked my ribs while I continued to swing my arm at him, trying to keep my face covered. I didn't want him to see he was getting to me.

Quil was right. I used to ask him every question I had about sex. After receiving vague answers from my mom, or being ignored altogether, I started asking Quil. I knew he would answer my questions because he never kept anything from me. Other than the menstrual cycle, I have learned everything about sex from Quil and health class. I think my mother was actually relieved with that arrangement.

I was twelve or thirteen when I started to feel uncomfortable talking to Quil about it. It's not like we sat around talking about sex all the time, but if I heard something at school or on TV I'd ask Quil to explain.

I think the uncomfortable feelings started one day while I watched a baseball game with all Quil's friends on TV. I was the only girl in the room and for whatever reason I suddenly remembered a conversation I overheard at school.

"_Quil, what's a blow job?" I asked loudly, but innocently._

_Every single guy in the room stopped what they were doing to look at me, then they looked at Quil, and then they busted out laughing. I started laughing too, not knowing what was so funny, which made everyone start laughing even harder. Quil took me from the room and explained to me point-blank what it was. Little did I know it was anything sexual? I was appalled by the description and couldn't believe anyone would want to do _that_! Then I was mortified that I asked that question in front of all the guys, men with penises, and refused to return to the living room to watch the game with them. I made Quil take me home. From then on I waited until Quil and I were alone to ask anything._

Now when I become curious and Quil explains things, which doesn't happen too often anymore, I can feel my body react to the words that come out of his mouth. With his deep, smooth voice explaining things I started to image Quil and I carrying out those things and it was weird and hot at the same time.

So yeah, I used to talk about sex with Quil, but not anymore. Now that his wolfy senses could probably pick up the changes in my body when he talked to me about it, I needed to avoid that awkwardness altogether. I already had trouble controlling my heartbeat and the warmth that spread through my body when Quil was near me. When he added anything to do with sex, no matter how clinical, I thought my head would explode.

I removed the pillow from my face and looked at Quil. "I'm not going to have sex with him Quil, so don't worry about it." I had to roll my eyes to look away from his gaze before my body started to react to him being so close to me on my bed. "God, I barely know him," I mumbled.

"Good," he replied, knowing not to push it with me. "Are you going to make dinner or what? Your mom is out there attempting some sort of casserole. Please don't make me eat that." Quil gave me a pleading look and I couldn't help but laugh. He always knew how to lighten my mood.

"Let's go see if I can save the poor thing," I agreed as I climbed over Quil's body to jump off my bed. I held out my hand for Quil to grab and lead him to the kitchen. "But you have to help me."

As soon our hands connected I felt a prickly sensation that seemed to flow from Quil's hand to mine. The feeling seemed to run up my arm and towards my chest. It was similar to the awareness I had when Quil was near, but it seemed to radiate stronger when we touched. I automatically pulled my hand away as if he had given me a static electricity shock.

"Did you feel that?" I asked Quil as I stared at his hand, expecting to see sparks coming from it.

"Uh-huh," was his only reply. I looked up at him and he was staring at me carefully again. He had that I'm-trying-to-figure-something-out-look on his face so I just stared back. I grabbed his hand again to pull him out of my room and the feeling came back. This time I didn't pull away. It was strange because I haven't ever felt it before, but it was familiar at the same time. I liked it. Quil still didn't say anything about it.

"Weird," I said with a teasing smile and gripped his hand tighter to pull him along.

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**Please let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Happy Halloween! Here's your treat!**

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Chapter 5.

Karla Crandall and I have been friends since second grade. I would consider Quil my best friend overall, even though he's a guy and he's twice as old as I am. But every girl needs a female BFF and Karla was it. She isn't judgmental and she's really sweet, but doesn't put up with anyone's crap. We have had many sleepovers and study together all the time. I believe she's aware of how much time Quil and I spend together, but she doesn't know the extent of my relationship with Quil. She doesn't know about the apparent one sided connection I have with Quil. Hell, I don't know the connection I have with Quil. Karla knew Quil was part of my family, but she didn't know it was my pack family. I always thought she assumed we were blood related, maybe distant cousins, and I've never corrected her.

I was in seventh grade when I overheard a couple of girls in my class mention Quil and how they thought it was "creepy" he hung out with me all the time. It upset me, but mostly because they called Quil creepy. I got a little defensive with those girls which only made things worse. They teased me about Quil all the time. It was shortly after that when I stopped talking about him with anyone other than Karla and quit bringing Quil to school functions. It's not that I was embarrassed; I just didn't want to start anything. I get really upset when someone talks bad about my Quil. Then I usually end up coming across as a freak.

Karla was different. She hasn't ever said anything bad about Quil. It seems like she can tell he's a good guy and that there's nothing creepy about him. Lately it appears she is catching on to the major crush I have on him. Maybe she realized we weren't actually related.

Like most people, she doesn't know about the wolves. No one in her family had the wolf bloodline so she isn't one of the privileged. I'm not exactly sure how I became one of the privileged. My uncle is a wolf and a best friend is a wolf, but there are members of both their immediate families who did not know about the wolves. Why did my family and I know? No clue.

"Does Quil know about Jason?" Karla asked during lunch. I stopped munching on my sandwich and looked up at her slightly confused. The question came out of nowhere and I was wondering why she wanted to know.

I nodded.

"What did he say?" she asked with a smirk on his face. I replied with a shrug. "Come on," Karla urged, "I know how protective he can be over you."

"Is it that obvious?" I asked with a frown.

"Uh, yeah," Karla answered. "All of his friends are like that too. Haven't you noticed?"

"What do you mean?" No. I hadn't noticed. Not really. It's clear how much Quil's pack family is very protective over each other because of the possible vampire threat, but Karla wouldn't know the reasoning behind that. I wasn't sure what she meant.

"Well, it's like that whole _gang_," Karla quoted her fingers over the word 'gang'…the whole community called them that, "watches over their women."

"Their women?" What the heck was she talking about?

"Yeah, you know," she replied. She noticed I still didn't understand so she let out a huff and giggled before she explained. "The last time I went with you to a bonfire I noticed that just about every one of the guys in the gang had some girl they practically hovered over or constantly kept an eye on."

"Like who?" I hadn't noticed anything like that before, but it would make sense if the wolves watched over their wives or girlfriends. Every one of the wolves protected the family from almost everything, mostly vampires.

"Your uncle Sam does that with your aunt Emily. Jared with Kim, Seth with Tala..." she trailed off.

"Right. They're married," I shrugged. _Duh._

"Quil does it with you. Like, all the time. You're not married," she said with a sly smirk.

"So," was my witty comeback. I stared down at my tray and played with my baked chips.

I thought about the couples she mentioned. Was that what was going on with Quil and me? Is Quil _mine_? I've always thought of Quil as mine and I've always been protective of him. I can't say that's always been true. He's just always been there and I love him like family.

My conversation with Katie from the day before perked up in my head. It matched Karla's observation about Quil and me.

"_Well I'm not you Claire," _Katie had stated_. "He's always been that way with you."_

"_Quil does it with you. Like, all the time. You're not married," _Karla had said.

Well, that's definitely something to think about and possibly talk to Quil about.

"So…what did Quil say about the date?" Karla asked, abandoning her observation.

"He was upset at first. He didn't want me to be in a car alone with Jason," I rolled my eyes and made Karla giggle. "He doesn't trust Jason's driving skills."

"You're not going to go?" she actually sounded disappointed.

"Yeah. Katie's asking Rob Peterson to double with us."

"Really!" Karla was just as shocked as I was about Katie giving in to Rob's begging. We've both witnessed his attempts at winning over Katie, several times. "Good for Rob. He's going to freak!"

"I know!" I giggled. I did like Rob. He was really nice and cute, in a puppy-dog kind of way.

"Hi Claire. Hey Karla," Jason said as he sat down next to me. "What's so funny?"

Jason smelled like fresh soap. His hair was damp and his face was shiny from being recently scrubbed. I stared at him for a second before I answered. His smile was distracting. His dimple made him extra cute. Is it possible to have a crush on two guys at the same time?

"Katie asked Rob out," I finally blurted out after I realized I was staring too long.

"Yeah I just heard. He practically tackled me in the locker room while I was dressing," Jason chuckled. Oh, so that's why he's all fresh and yummy smelling. "He's a bit excited. He threatened violence if I didn't agree to double with them…something about not blowing his chance with Katie."

"So you're ok with that? Going double with them on Friday? It was a requirement from…my mom," I lied. There was no way I was going to tell him that my mom was cool with me going out with Jason alone, but Quil was not.

"Oh yeah! That's cool," Jason answered. I let out a sigh of relief now that I knew Jason was ok with the plan.

"Ok," I said with a shy smile. Jason smiled back. I swear I saw a twinkle in his eye and for some reason that made me blush. I cleared my throat.

"What do you two have planned for us?" I asked and went back to fiddling with my chips.

"It's supposed to rain, so maybe dinner and a movie? How about _Die Hard 7_," Jason suggested enthusiastically. What a boy. I knew Quil wanted to see that one and I felt weird going to see it with someone else.

"It's rated R," I replied. "I'm not even seventeen yet."

"We can get in with your sister and Rob. They're both eighteen," Jason suggested.

I didn't have any other excuse and I couldn't think of another movie to see. The theatre was limited and didn't have that many to choose from.

"Ok," I gave in. I hoped Quil wouldn't be bummed.

"Claire!" Katie called to me across the parking lot of the school. I looked back and paused to wait for her. It was a nice day so I decided to walk to the shop to hitch a ride home with Quil. Katie never wanted to walk with me before.

"Ya think Quil would give me a ride home?" she asked.

I internally rolled my eyes, annoyed she was crashing in on my time with Quil. On the outside I tried to be nice. "Of course."

"Thanks," she said it as if she had to get my permission to ride in Quil's car. I just nodded.

"What happened to Beth?" I asked. Beth is Katie's best friend. Her family lived close to our house so Beth always gave Katie a ride to and from school. Neither of us had a car.

"She left early. Had a doctor's appointment. Rob offered to take me home, but I didn't want to push it with him too much…ya know?" She tried to explain, but I didn't understand. I don't usually have guys falling head over heels to get my attention. I didn't know what it meant to "push it." Did that have anything to do with teasing?

I nodded like I knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I heard he was really excited that you asked him out," I said and glanced at her sideways. I saw a huge smile creep across her face, but then she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, he's cute. He was all nervous," Katie replied. Her huge smile still intact. She seemed to look off in the distance like she was replaying the scene in her head.

"You like him!" I said in disbelief. I've seen my sister flirt on several occasions, but couldn't ever really tell if she liked someone…until now.

"What? Nah!" She tried to straighten her smile, but she couldn't. She threw up her hand like she was trying to brush the thought away. "He's just sweet. He's different…ya know? I don't feel uncomfortable around him."

"What do you mean uncomfortable," I asked. Do boys make Katie uncomfortable? You wouldn't know it by the way she interacted with them.

Katie sighed before she answered like she was trying to figure out how to explain it.

"It's like he sees me differently than other guys do. He doesn't look at me like he wants something from me…ya know?" Katie gave me a small smile. "The way he looks at me is a little embarrassing, really."

_Awe, Katie had a crush._

I felt his presence before I saw him. How a massive wolf could creep up quietly was beyond my comprehension. Although Quil didn't usually creep up on me since the sensation in my chest gave him away. I turned slightly and saw his gigantic, chocolate muzzle nudge Katie in the back.

Katie whipped around and shrieked loudly, dancing around like a cartoon character that spotted a mouse on the floor. Once she realized who it was she started swinging at Quil with her backpack.

"What is wrong with you?" she yelled at the wolf. "I about peed my pants." Quil gave a wheezy wolf laugh in response as he easily dodged her swings.

I stood there doubled over from laughter. I almost peed _my_ pants from Katie's reaction.

"Didn't he scare you?" Katie asked me with a huff? She seemed genuinely pissed.

"No, Quil can't scare me." I didn't volunteer the information that I could physically sense him without actually touching him. Not in front of Quil anyway.

"Oh yeah, I forgot…your _connection_," Katie sneered the word "connection."

I glared at Katie to shut her up the same time Quil gave her a small, quick grunt. I didn't want Katie to blurt out something embarrassing. She had her suspicions on my feelings for Quil, but why was Quil grunting at her?

"I'm walking home!" Katie grumbled and started to stalk away.

"Be safe Little Red Riding Hood!" I yelled after her. Quil snorted next to me.

"Shut up!"

Quil wiggled his back leg which had his pants tied around it. His keys jiggled in the pocket. I knew what his gesture meant. After so many years, I could read his body language. I grabbed the keys out of his pants pocket and ran up to Katie.

"Here, take the keys, we'll walk home," I said. Katie thought it over for only a second before she agreed and grabbed the car keys from me. She hated walking.

Quil hunched down on his front paws offering his back for me to ride on. I pulled myself up and straddled his shoulders. I found my comfortable spot on Quil's back. I leaned forward and rested my head and chest along his neck while I hugged myself around him. I let my hands pet his fur. Quil groaned in response…almost purred like a cat.

When I was smaller I used to be able to ride on Quil's back with my butt between his front shoulder blades and my back resting against his. My feet would reach up along his neck. I was too tall to ride like that anymore. I used to ride him like a horse if he decided to run fast. I loved it when he ran fast. It would excite me and scare me at the same time. We didn't run that much anymore because I was heavier and I started to fall more often. I teased him and told him I was going to get a pink saddle so I could stay on better.

Quil walked along the road close to the tree line so he could duck out of sight if a car came along. I told him about my day. I filled him in on the conversation I had with Katie before he showed up and scared the bejesus out of her. He snorted when I told him that I thought Katie had a major crush on Rob, but didn't want to admit it. I knew Quil was amused because he has always tried to get Katie to out with Rob.

I also told him that Jason was fine with going on a double date with Katie and Rob and that we were going to dinner and a movie. When I told him what movie the guys wanted to see, he paused in his steps slightly and grunted. I could tell he was slightly annoyed, but of course, he didn't say anything. He couldn't anyway in his wolf form.

Talking to Quil in wolf form was different than when he was human. One, I didn't get distracted from his hotness. Two, wolf-Quil didn't talk back. Not that I didn't enjoy talking to Quil in his human form, I just seemed to open up more in his wolf form. I would get the occasional grunts or snorts in response, but it was more like I was talking to my diary or something. Or my pet dog, but I knew it was Quil, of course, so I didn't reveal too much. I would talk and talk and it didn't seem to bother him one bit. It was as if he actually thought I was interesting. But, he was like that all the time. Even in human form. Anything I had to say seemed to keep his attention. From what I've noticed, that wasn't the same with all guys.

I liked the alone time Quil and I had together. I could have the crappiest day in the world, but once I talked to Quil I always felt better. He made me feel special, more than anyone did. He never talked down to me or made me feel stupid, even when he was being his overprotective self. He acted like everything I said was important and listened to my suggestions. He treated me like an equal, even though I was half his age.

That's probably why I was in love with Quil.

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**So, what did you think? This is kind of a filler chapter, but I liked the interaction with Wolf-Quil :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm currently in McDonald's posting this chapter while watching a bunch of kids running and screaming around the play area. Thank goodness for free WiFi!**

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Chapter 6

"Ugh! Why am I so stupid?" I groaned and threw myself forehead down, clunking it on my desk. Did I mention I hate math?

Quil and I had been working on my homework for over two hours and I still couldn't complete a problem without goofing something up. I had a good tutor though. Maybe having Quil beside me was too distracting.

"You're not stupid Claire-Bear," Quil responded and rubbed his gigantic hand on my back trying to comfort me. He didn't touch me too much anymore, maybe because when he did that electrical current between us made an appearance.

An embarrassing, quiet moan escaped my throat before I could stop it. Quil's hand immediately stopped and he removed it slowly from my back. I couldn't see his face since mine was buried in the wood of the desk. Before he could say anything or do anything to make me feel rejected, I popped my head up with a straight face, ignoring what just happened.

"But my test is Monday and I know NOTHING!" I whined and let my head roll back on my neck and pretended to cry, trying to lighten the stupid tension between us.

"You're such a baby," Quil chuckled._ Awkward tension gone._ "You know this. You've done it like a hundred times already."

"But when that test plops in front of me, my mind goes totally blank," I continued to complain. It actually made no sense at all. It's like my mind has enough of the studying and then develops math-amnesia during the class period.

"Maybe you just need a break," Quil suggested and closed my book.

"Thank you!" I agreed with a dramatic sigh.

"How about some ice cream?" Quil loves ice cream. He could eat it morning, noon, and night if it was available.

"I have a date tomorrow night. I am _not_ eating ice cream. Are you trying to beef me up so no one wants to date me?" I asked as I grabbed my coat. Even though I wasn't going to eat any treats, I would go along with Quil. Anything was better than hanging out in my room studying.

"No, I am not trying to beef you up. But if you think it will keep the boys away …" he scratched his chin with a smirk as he considered the idea. I smacked his arm with a giggle and pulled him out of my room. We quickly told Mom we were leaving and climbed in Quil's car.

When Quil started down the road I thought of a way to bring up what I wanted to ask him. I've never been nervous about asking him anything before, but for some reason I had tiny butterflies flittering around in my stomach. Maybe I didn't want to start an argument. I hated fighting with Quil.

"Are you mad that I'm going out on a date?" I asked carefully, glancing in his direction out of the corner of my eye.

Quil let out a sigh. It looked like I brought him out of his ice-cream-anticipation-high.

"No, Claire-Bear, I'm not mad at you. I just…" he stopped, clenching his jaw as he tried to work out what he wanted to say.

"You just…" I tried to get him to continue.

"I was Jason's age once. As you know, I've been in the minds of all my pack brothers when they were his age. I know what seventeen year old boys think about," Quil said in a low, disgusted voice.

"So, what do they think about?" I knew. I'm not totally naïve. I mostly wanted to tease Quil and make him suffer…in a loving way of course.

Quil looked over at me and narrowed his eyes. He knew me well enough to know what I was doing. I challenged him by arching my one eyebrow. The arched-eyebrow was one of my few talents.

"Sex." Quil finally blurted out. The way he said that one word sent a warm shiver down my spine. His voice sounded like fuzzy velvet. My heartbeat accelerated, which made me instantly embarrassed because Quil can hear it with his wolf-ears.

I tried to recover with a deep breath, cleared my throat and continued.

"You think I'm going to have sex with him?" I practically squeaked out. I had to take another deep breath.

"No!" He seemed flustered. "I…I just…I don't know!" Quil stumbled over his words. His fingers were gripping the steering wheel. I could see the leather grip that surrounded the steering wheel start to peel off.

"You don't know?" I was a little insulted. He must've seen it in my face.

"That's not what I meant," Quil's voice softened. We had arrived to the store and he parked the car. He slowly turned to me and it looked like he was about to get serious so I cut him off. I didn't want to hear his fatherly speech or hear about that lucky guy that's going to come around some day.

"Quil," I grabbed his hand, "I have no intentions of having sex with Jason. I barely know him. I never once thought about it until you brought it up." I thought about kissing Jason, but I didn't need to tell Quil that. "The thought of it, for some reason, kind of weirds me out a little, so don't worry about it."

What I said was the truth. Having Jason touch me in that sort of way seemed foreign to me. Not because I was a virgin. I had imagined it many times with Quil. But with Jason? No, couldn't picture it. Although I could envision _kissing_ Jason, anything else didn't seem right. Great. This obsession with Quil is going to ruin any future relationships with boys.

I got out of the car without waiting for a reply from Quil and headed for the steps of the store. It was a good five minutes before Quil joined me inside. I had no idea what he was doing out there in the car alone. I had his favorite ice cream scooped up and waiting for him.

Date night. I've been nervous about it the entire week. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it was my first official date. It's not like Jason and I were going to be alone. Rob and Katie would be there too. Jason sat with Karla and me at lunch every day so I got the chance to talk with him a little more. I wasn't totally uncomfortable around him. He was really nice, but sometimes he would stare at me a little too long. It wasn't a creepy stare, but I didn't know him well enough to know what it was all about.

But that's why a person goes out on a date with another, right? To get to know that person.

I rummaged through my closet trying to find something to wear. I'm not one of those girls who thinks about that stuff ahead of time. Katie is, so she was ready for the date. She was perched on the end of my bed ready to go. We only had a half hour before the guys were going to be there to pick us up. Her hair, make-up, and outfit were perfect. Katie wore her skinny jeans, a style my body would never wear, and a satin pink short-sleeved top.

"What about the dress you bought at the mall the other day?" Katie offered.

"Right! Quil had a fit 'cause I bought it. Can you imagine his reaction if I wore it out with a boy?"

"Yeah, you're probably right," she agreed with a giggle.

"Plus, I don't want to be dressier than you. We're just going to the movies," I replied from the bottom of my closet. After a few more minutes I heard a huff from Katie and she joined me in the closet.

"Here," Katie said after she pushed me aside to pick through the hanging clothes. "This will look great with your eyes and flatter those," she said pointing to my boobs. She handed me an emerald green fitted t-shirt I've had forever, but rarely wore. I didn't want to accentuate my boobs. That was the whole point of not wearing the dress. At least I wouldn't have cleavage showing.

"And these are your best pair of jeans." She held up my dark jeans with the faded spots below my butt cheeks. I thought they made me look hippy so I hardly wore them.

After I put on the outfit I turned around to check out my butt.

"See! Perfect," Katie smiled in the I-told-you-so kind of way.

"The jeans don't make my butt look big?"

"No! At least you have a butt. You've got curves like Beyonce. I'm all flat and boyish," Katie scowled as she looked at herself in the mirror as she glanced at her own body. She got her figure from my mom. Mine must have come from my dad's side. I rolled my eyes. I didn't feel like having the usual argument over who had the nicer figure.

"Ooooh, look at my girls all ready for their date!" My mom peeked in the room with a huge smile on her face.

"Mooommm!" Katie and I both whined. Mom could be such a girl sometimes.

"I've been on plenty of dates Mom," Katie rolled her eyes as she smoothed out her hair.

"I know, but this is Claire's first date," Mom beamed. She was standing at the door and it looked like she was hiding something behind her back.

"Please don't tell me you have a camera," I groaned. Mom sprung it out from behind her back. She was always ready with the camera to capture anything she thought was important. Katie had a picture of her first date too.

"It's not like we're going to a major dance or anything Mom," Katie said, but happily cuddled up to me for a snapshot. Katie loved getting her picture taken. I could tell without looking at her that Katie had a big smile on her face.

"Come on Claire-Bear, give her your pretty smile," Quil suddenly appeared behind my mom and his smooth voice instantly brought out my happy face. Mom quickly snapped the picture.

"Thanks for making her smile, Quil," Mom said and patted him on the shoulder.

"He always does," Katie mumbled next to me. I elbowed her as my face blushed. Of course Quil heard Katie's comment and smirked in response.

Katie and Mom quickly snuck past Quil and left my room. Quil walked in and shut the door. He looked a little nervous.

"What's going on?" I asked him quietly.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked and sat down on my desk chair. I nodded. Quil smiled at me and looked down at the floor. "You look really nice," he said quietly. He was acting weird.

"Thanks," I said dryly. I had jeans and a t-shirt on, nothing special.

Quil noticed my tone and looked up at me again. "You do," he said seriously as if to change my mind.

"Thanks," I said again, but accepting the compliment with a smile. Quil smiled back and sighed. "What do you want to say Quil?"

Quil let out another long drawn out sigh. "I know you're gonna get pissed, but I just have to say it," he blurted out.

"Quil, if this is about the whole sex thing, you don't need to say anything!" I snapped. "You don't have to be my dad because he's not here." Quil's head flopped backwards and he rubbed his hand over his face. "God, don't you trust me?" I whined.

"Of course I do! I don't trust him!" Quil replied with a growl. I was used to his growls. They didn't scare me.

"Yeah, yeah I know. You know what guys think. Just because they are thinking things, doesn't mean they are all going to act on them." I sat down on my bed frustrated. I didn't know how to get it through his head that I wasn't going to lose my virginity to Jason tonight. Quil acted like the first date meant I was coming home pregnant.

"I've heard things ok!" Quil finally revealed. "I've heard some stories about him and I don't like them."

"Like what kind of stories?" I asked cautiously. Quil looked serious and I knew he wouldn't lie to me.

Quil closed his eyes and shook his head. I could tell he was struggling as to whether he should tell me or not. "Look, I didn't want to tell you, but I swear to God, if that kid hurts you in any way…" he cut himself off and didn't finish the threat. I'm pretty sure what that threat would be.

"What stories Quil?" I asked again.

"I've heard that if girls don't give it up, he dumps them," he said without looking in my eyes, but I knew he wasn't lying. He may have been misinformed, but he wouldn't lie to me like that.

"Where did you hear that?" I had never heard that before. Our school was small so I would assume that information would've gotten to me. But then again, I wasn't in the popular crowd, so I probably wouldn't have heard it.

"Collin's and Brady's younger brothers. They knew Jason when they were in high school. They see him at parties sometimes. As soon as the guys heard Jason's name in my head I heard those stories in return," he explained. I rolled my eyes imagining the stories Collin and Brady would conjure up.

Quil seemed to know what I was thinking because he added, "I know I heard it second or third hand, but I didn't want you going out with him without knowing that. Ok?" He picked up my hand and I shivered from the heat he sent up my arm. I nodded and gave him a small smile.

"I just don't want you to get hurt Claire." Quil rarely called me anything but Claire-Bear so I knew he was serious.

"I won't let him hurt me," I replied softly. "Will you show me some defensive moves?" I teased to lighten up the mood.

"Seriously?" Quil got excited and I saw a glint in his eye that made me think he would enjoy the thought of me kicking Jason's ass.

"No! Man you're psycho," I laughed and shoved his head playfully.

"You know, it's probably not a bad idea. I could teach you how get out of a hold and things like that," he said thoughtfully and started to walk out the door.

"What if someone comes up behind me like this?" I said as I jumped on his back and pretended to strangle him with my arms wrapped around his throat.

"You could do this," he grabbed my legs and laughed as he pretended to crash us into the wall. "And you could do this," Quil spun us around and tried to shake me off his back. I was giggling hysterically as we made our way through the hallway into the living room. I looked up and saw everyone staring at us. Including Jason. My giggles immediately stopped.

There was a mixture of emotions on the faces of our audience. Mom had the bright smile she had on her face with the camera earlier. I think Mom snapped a picture of our entrance. To Mom, Quil and I rough-housing was a normal occurrence. Katie gave us a meaningful smile because, even though I never once admitted it, she knows I have a crush on Quil. Rob looked confused. And Jason…I couldn't read Jason's face. He looked a little upset or a little disgusted, maybe? Jason's look was directed towards Quil.

I slowly slid off Quil's back. I wasn't very graceful about it because there was quite a distance from Quil's back to the floor. Once Jason's eyes found mine his face softened and he gave me a smile. I noticed he had a small bouquet of daisies.

"Hi Claire," Jason said nervously and handed me the flowers. I thanked him and I immediately felt awkward. I didn't know what to do next. I stood between Quil, the man I considered my best friend and secretly had a crush on, and Jason, my new friend and date for the evening. And now they had to meet.

Meet. Introductions. Yes, that's what I needed to do next.

"Um, Quil this is Jason. Jason, this is my…um, uh Quil." I almost said "my Quil." I used to call him that all the time when I was little. I'm not sure why I almost blurted it out this time. I really didn't know how to explain who Quil was. I never really had to before.

Quil noticed my almost slip up and smiled at me. He offered his hand to Jason and Jason took it while they exchanged pleasantries. I saw Jason's face wince a little during the hand shake and I quickly cleared my throat as a warning to Quil. Jason took his hand I saw him spread his fingers and flex them a little. I gave Quil a little glare. Quil shrugged innocently.

"Jason, this is my Mom, Jan," I said, trying to take the focus off Quil. "You might want to run now before she blinds you with the camera."

"We've met. She paparazzied Rob and me at the door," Jason laughed.

It was Mom's turn to receive one of my famous glares.

"Ok, the four of you get together please!" Mom instructed, effectively ignoring my glare-warnings.

It was a good thing the guys were early, because my mom was relentless with her camera. She acted as if we were going to prom. She took a picture of the four of us and one of each couple. The shot with Jason and me was uncomfortable. I didn't know how to stand. We fumbled around next to each other until Jason finally casually put his arm around me and his hand on my shoulder. I tensed immediately wondering what Quil would think.

I didn't have to wonder long because there was a faint growl coming from Quil on the other side of the kitchen. I was the only one who heard him. As soon as Mom took the shot, Jason removed his arm and we were off.

I glanced back one last time at Quil. He seemed to look genuinely worried. He noticed me looking at him and offered a small, sad smile and a tiny wave. I smiled back and walked out the door. Now I was going to wonder all night why he seemed sad.

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**How did you like it? I've received a few emails letting me know people added this as a favorite story, although I don't get any reviews from those readers. Hmmm… Oh well, welcome aboard anyway!**

**Next up, the date!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I almost had a small tradegy. I lost my thumb drive that contained this story for like two days. But, whew, I found it! I saved everything to my desktop to prevent future freak-outs.**

**Anywho - I present to you The Date**

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Chapter 7

I felt a little awkward sitting next to Jason in a dark quiet movie theatre. The advertisements from local businesses were floating across the screen without any sound. Although we've talked easily during lunch at school, there were always others around and we sat across the table from each other. In the theatre seats we were so close. If I turned my head to talk to him, his face was close enough to mine that I could feel his breath on my face. It wasn't bad though. Jason smelled really good and I kept talking to his lips. I couldn't look into his eyes.

It was just weird and awkward. Totally different than spending time with Quil.

If I didn't stop comparing Jason and Quil, poor Jason would never have a chance. But I couldn't help noticing the differences between the two. Obviously there were the physical differences. Quil could snap Jason like a twig, not that he would…probably not.

Jason wasn't up to speed on the whole chivalry thing. I'll admit I eat that stuff up. I'm used to it because Quil takes care of everything. Jason didn't hold the door for me or take my hand to help me out of the car. He did pay for the movies, which I thought was nice, but there was just something missing. It's not that Jason was being rude; he just apparently didn't have anyone to tell him how to treat a lady. I couldn't hold it against him. He was just a kid. He did tell me I looked really nice and he did seem to blush a little when he said it, so he scored some points there.

The main difference between the two is that Quil is a man and would never be my boyfriend. I had a better chance with the boy, Jason, since I am only a girl…not a woman. Jason is my age and seems to like me in a boyfriend-kind of way.

I also had to force myself to not compare Jason with Rob. Cute, sweet Rob. He treated Katie like a queen. There were a few instances where I had to hold back a giggle. He would practically hurt himself to make it to the door before Katie stepped out of the car. It was like he didn't want to fail Katie's test. He seemed to act like this was the only shot he had with Katie so he was going to go all out and make it count. Couldn't Jason pick up any pointers?

I really didn't think Rob had anything to worry about. I knew my sister and she loved all the attention. I could see Rob's actions were affecting her in a good way. Katie's eyes had a little twinkle in them everytime Rob did something nice for her and I actually think I saw her blush once.

"Are you sure you don't want any popcorn or candy?" Jason asked me, offering his bag of popcorn.

"No thanks. Soda is fine," I replied, talking to his lips again. I stared at them like I wanted to dive right in and kiss him. They looked soft and puffy and probably tasted like popcorn. I realized I was looking at them longer than I probably should and I chanced a glance up to Jason's eyes. He obviously noticed me gawking because he gave me a big grin, his big dimple popping out in his cheek. I saw him look down at my lips and I swore he leaned in a little. I wasn't ready for a kiss. I told myself earlier that day that I wasn't going to kiss Jason on the first date.

"If I want anything I'll just get something out of their stash," I blurted out with a nervous laugh, effectively breaking the staring-of-the-lips and possible kiss, and pointed a thumb to my right where Katie and Rob were sitting.

We both looked over at the other couple and laughed when we saw the mound of snacks between them. They were sharing a tub of popcorn, a bag of gummy bears, and family sized bag of M&M's. It wasn't just Rob eating the bounty, Katie was in there too. That girl was a bottomless pit. Her skinny ass could eat anything and not gain weight.

Rob and Katie both looked at us, with their mouths full, wondering what the big deal was.

"We're going to dinner after this you know," I reminded them both.

"So?" Katie replied while Rob shrugged. I just shook my head and giggled.

I was still giggling when I reached for my soda cup to take a drink. When I placed the cup back in its holder and rested my arm on the arm rest Jason gently grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. His hands were so soft and cool, unlike the hands I was used to holding, but they were still nice. Holding Quil's hand was innocent. Quil never held my hand in a dark movie theatre. I shook my head slightly, trying to mentally push away any comparisons my mind was making between Jason and Quil. I stared at our entwined fingers without saying a thing.

"Is this ok?" Jason asked as he leaned in towards my face with a nervous smile. I glanced up in his eyes and recognized that look I've been getting all week. I wasn't totally comfortable with that look only because I wasn't sure what it meant. It was kind of intense, but it didn't creep me out or anything. I felt a little embarrassed. No one has ever stared at me the way he did. It's hard to describe, but I got the feeling that he wanted to do other things than just hold my hand. I think the only reason I interpreted Jason's look that way was because of what Quil told me.

A blush crawled up my neck when I noticed I stared back at Jason too long. I quickly looked away and nodded my head to answer his question, giving his hand a little squeeze. I could practically feel the tension release from Jason's body. Was he as nervous as I was?

Katie nudged me with her elbow and her eyes darted to Jason and my joined hands. She gave me a quiet "awe" and a smile, so I glared back at her quietly telling her to shut up.

The four of us made our way out of the movie an hour and fifty-three minutes later and walked a couple blocks to the restaurant. My hand was still holding onto Jason's when I felt a familiar tingling in my chest while we walked down the sidewalk. The sensation stopped me short and I looked around the area to see if I could see Quil. I couldn't see anything. It was late enough in the evening where shadows played around the buildings creating plenty of places to hide. Quil was following me. That untrusting, overprotective wolf-man was following me!

I don't know why, but I quickly released Jason's hand and put a little space between us. Although Quil knew I was on a date with Jason, for some reason I didn't want him to see us holding hands. My face must've shown my annoyance and anger because Jason asked me what was wrong. Katie and Rob stopped in front of us and turned around to look at me.

"I'm ok, something startled me, that's all," I tried laugh it off and my mind shifted gears. I decided if Quil was going to spy on me then I would give him a little show. I grabbed Jason's hand again and tried to will away my anger and enjoy my date. I smiled at Jason and leaned in a little on his arm. He smiled back and we continued to walk.

"Are you sure everything's ok?" Katie asked again. She knew me too well to just let that go.

"Yeah," I laughed. "I just thought I saw a dog." Katie looked at me like I was crazy. "A big, chocolate colored dog," I clarified, stressing Quil's fur color. Katie finally got it. Sometimes it takes her a little longer to process things. First her eyes were surprised and then her face looked upset. Her eyes darted around quickly just as mine had earlier.

"Do you not like dogs or something?" Rob asked innocently. Even though he worked with some of the pack at the shop during the summer, he knew nothing about their furry sides. Rob had no clue what Katie and I were referring to.

"Oh, Claire likes dogs. She's always trying to take one home but my mom is allergic," Katie was slow to process things, but she was quick with the cover-ups even though they don't always make sense. "Mom will be mad if he follows you home Claire," her laugh was a little too edgy.

"He better not follow me," I said a little loudly through my teeth with a smile. I was hoping Quil could hear me too. Katie continued her uneasy laugh for a few more steps, but luckily we arrived at the restaurant. Rob and Jason glanced at each other and shrugged. They probably thought we were crazy.

I chanced one last scan through the street and didn't see anything, but I could still feel Quil was near.

Dinner was nice. Just as we had planned the movie gave us something to talk about. Katie and I thought some of the action was totally unrealistic and ridiculous, but Jason and Rob thought it was the best thing ever. They're such boys. Talking about the movie opened up other conversation topics.

I had a really good time and I genuinely enjoyed Jason's company. We sat on the same side of the table and he would casually touch my arm when he talked to me. It wasn't unwelcome and I noticed I started to do it back to him. I would touch his arm when I told him a story or I would shove his shoulder when he started to pick on me. He made me laugh a lot. The only problem was that I kept comparing him to Quil. It was _my_ problem, I know. Not Jason's. There were a few times where I had to stop myself from talking about Quil too much. Not talking about Quil was pretty hard to do.

Jason didn't grab for my hand until we left the restaurant. We walked hand in hand down the sidewalk with a gap between us and Katie and Rob. We were almost to the car when we heard a groan come from Rob.

"I can't find the keys," Rob said and it looked like he was about to panic. He looked at Katie almost as if this was going to blow it for him after the fun evening they were having. "I'm so sorry," he said while he patted himself down looking for the keys.

"Hey, it's ok," Katie said with a sweet smile and gently grabbed his arm. "We'll just go back to the restaurant. I'm sure they're there." Rob nodded, but seemed relieved she wasn't mad at him. Poor guy.

"You guys go on without us," Katie told us. "We'll meet you by the car in a few."

Jason and I continued walking towards the car that was parked by the theatre. We weren't in any rush to get back to the car to just stand there.

"I think Katie really likes Rob," I said when the silence between us seemed too much.

"You think so?" Jason smiled. I nodded and smiled back. "Why do you say that?"

"I think she likes the way he's nervous around her. Guys usually don't act that way towards her. It's probably refreshing."

"What about you? How do guys usually act around you?" Jason asked.

"They don't usually act like anything. Other than you, Quil, and his friends no guys really talk to me." I said with a shrug. It was true; boys stopped talking to me in middle school. It didn't really bother me because I didn't care what people thought of me and I always had Quil.

"What do you mean guys never talk to you?"

"Other than talking to me in class for group projects, guys don't talk to me. I've never had a boyfriend, so…" I shrugged feeling a little embarrassed.

"You've never had a boyfriend?" Jason asked with actual disbelief in his voice. It kind of made me feel embarrassed.

"No and you're my first date," I said quietly and looked at the ground in front of me. Jason nudged my arm with his and said he had never had a girlfriend either.

"Really?" I found it hard to believe from the stories Quil had heard. But I guess you don't need to have a girlfriend to mess around with girls.

"Other than going on dates to dances and parties, I haven't really had a girlfriend either," he explained shyly.

"Oh," was my lame reply.

"Speaking of the dance," Jason started. I knew the question was coming but I didn't think it would be so soon. He paused in front of Rob's car and turned facing me and continued. "I was wondering if you wanted to go with me." He ended it more like a question. Like he wasn't too confident on what my answer would be.

I nodded my head nervously glancing up quickly to see Jason studying my face again.

"Is that a yes?" He smirked, making his deep dimple appear.

"Yeah," I said quietly and smiled back at him. I couldn't help it. He was just too dang cute.

"Good." He leaned his face into mine and my heart started beating frantically. I felt my eyes get wide, but Jason wasn't looking at my eyes. He was focused on my mouth.

Several thoughts flew through my mind while his lips made their way to mine. _This was going to be my first kiss! Should I let Jason kiss me? Is Quil still around? _I took a quick observation and I thought I could still feel the fluttering in my chest, but it didn't quite feel like the same Quil-induced flutter. It was more of a flutter of nervous anticipation. So much for not kissing on the first date.

Jason's lips were kind of sticky, but soft. They didn't move too much, just sort of pressed into mine. I didn't know what to do because I had never kissed anyone before. Plus I didn't want to put on too much of a show if Quil was spying on me. Jason's mouth started moving and it wasn't until my mouth started following his that kiss seemed to get better. Once I started kissing back Jason placed his hand on my jaw and opened his mouth a little more and lightly sucked on my lips. I could taste the Mountain Dew Jason drank earlier and our sticky mouths were becoming more wet, which actually made the kissing more enjoyable. Just as I started to enjoy kissing Jason and not caring about who could be watching, Jason pulled away.

For a moment I thought maybe I was doing things all wrong, but the look on Jason's face seemed to make me think otherwise. His hand was still on my face and he wore a large toothy smile, deepening his dimple even more. I was starting to really like that dimple. I smiled back at him timidly.

"Claire," he said quietly, "I really like you." The way he said it made me blush.

I didn't know what to say and saying something like "I like you too" sounded really dorky. Luckily, I didn't have t o say anything because Jason cleared his throat and stepped away from me, glancing behind me. Immediately I thought it was Quil approaching us and quickly turned around. It was just Katie and Rob. _Geez Claire! You just had your first kiss and you can't stop thinking about Quil._

Katie looked at me with a grin on her face that revealed that she saw everything. Great. Now I was going to be drilled by her later for every last detail.

"Did you find the keys?" I squeaked out and looked at Rob. He was the only person that I didn't feel uncomfortable looking at right then. I felt Jason stand closer to me and he grabbed my hand.

"Yeah, Katie was right. I left them right on the table," Rob said and glanced shyly toward Katie. That boy needed some confidence! But his uncertainty seemed to be working in his favor.

"Don't worry about it," Katie gave Rob her famous heart-melting smile. And it seemed that's exactly what happened to Rob's heart. His eyes looked as if they glazed over and his timid smile was replaced with a dopey grin. "They seemed to be just fine, weren't you Claire?" Katie flashed me an all-knowing smirk.

"Yep, ready?" I replied, let go of Jason's hand, and made my way to the other side of the car.

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**So...what do you think of Jason now? What do you think about Claire's possible creeper? Don't you just love Rob? I need to write a story about him.**


	8. Chapter 8

**So, I kinda got in trouble for NOT having Claire's first kiss be with Quil. Sorry about that...but only a little.**

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Chapter 8.

"Spill it!" Katie practically squealed as soon as the front door shut. I quickly shushed her, worried that Rob and Jason could hear on the other side. They just walked us to the door and couldn't possibly be off the porch yet.

"You're back! How'd it go?" Mom asked from the hallway. I could tell she rushed out of bed once she heard us come in the house. She had her glasses and pajamas on and her book was still in her hand.

"Jason kissed Claire!" Katie squealed again, grabbed my hand, and bounced around like a wind-up toy. I rolled my eyes dramatically. I can't believe she just told my mom. "AND, he was holding her hand most of the night."

I looked over at my mom. She was standing next to us with that my-baby's-growing-up smile on her face. Then _she _started in with the girly squealing and bouncing.

"Oh my God! Not you too Mom," I groaned and made my way down the hall to my bedroom. I really didn't want to talk to my sister about kissing Jason and I certainly didn't want to talk to my mom about it either. Sometimes my mom seemed like my sister more than my mother.

I could hear the two rushing to keep up with me as I scurried down the hall to the refuge of my bedroom. They were too fast though, and Katie pushed herself in passed the door I was trying to close.

"Leave me alone," I groaned again as I started stripping off my clothes to put on my pajamas. They didn't leave. They propped themselves on my bed and waited for the juicy details.

"Is he a good kisser?" Katie asked, breaking the silence.

"Mom!" I gestured to Katie and looked at my mom with pleading eyes asking her to make Katie stop. It didn't work.

"Why don't you want to talk about it? You and I did the same thing when Katie had her first kiss with…uh…" Mom looked at Katie for help. She could never keep Katie's dates straight.

"Reed." Katie answered, stilling buzzing with excitement.

"I did not do _that_," I said pointing to the bouncing Katie. She immediately stopped bouncing, but her face still grinned ear to ear. And Mom was wrong; it was more like I was in the room while Katie practically described every detail of her first kiss.

"If you're too embarrassed to talk about it Claire, you don't have to," Mom said. She gently grabbed Katie's hand to coax her out of my room. Katie looked disappointed.

"I'm not embarrassed," I replied. They didn't believe me. I wasn't good at lying.

"She's probably embarrassed because she thinks she saw Quil," Katie told Mom.

"Was Quil there?" Mom seemed shocked.

"Well, I didn't actually _see_ him, but I'm pretty sure he was there," I tried to explain while I pulled my flannel pajama top over my head. I didn't get a response from that explanation so I expected to see confused looks from the two of them. Instead, when I turned around they seemed to be silently talking and gesturing to each other, but stopped immediately when I noticed.

"What?" I asked. They ignored me.

"What do you mean you didn't actually _see_ him?" My mom asked with a pleasant look on her face. Her pleasant look usually meant there was a lot going through her head. "How did you know he was there?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. I had never talked about this with anyone before and wasn't sure how to explain. The tingly feeling in my chest when Quil was near only started within the last year or so. "I just feel when he's near me," I mumbled.

"Like you can sense him?" Mom asked. I nodded and shrugged hoping she would take the hint that I didn't want to talk about it.

"So you think Quil saw you kiss Jason?" Katie veered back to the original subject. I shrugged again, because I wasn't exactly sure if Quil saw anything. "'Cause I did and woo-hoo!" Katie giggled while fanning herself with her hands.

"Oh please!" I said, "It wasn't anything like that." I glared at Katie, trying to counteract my burning cheeks.

"What was it like?" Mom asked. She seemed genuinely interested. She wasn't trying to mortify me like my sister was. "Good, nice, bad? Did his breath smell, 'cause that will ruin it from the beginning," Mom's face puckered up like she's had that type of kiss before.

"It was fine I guess, alright?" I gave in, hoping they would be satisfied and leave me alone. "I don't have anything to compare it to, so I guess it was good." I slumped down on the floor and shyly looked away from my mom and sister.

"If you want to kiss him again, then yes, it was good," Katie said with a knowing smile. I immediately blushed and Katie knew that in fact I did want to kiss Jason again. Katie started to giggle and bounce again.

"Ok, get out. I have to call Quil and do some yelling and accusing," I said as I shooed the ladies out the door.

"Be gentle on him Claire," Mom warned at the door. "This is hard for him." She gave me a kiss on the cheek and left the room.

_Hard for him? _If she only knew that Quil was the one I wanted to kiss. Although I liked kissing Jason I couldn't help wondering if that's what it would be like kissing Quil. For some reason I thought it would be a lot better. I imagined kissing Quil would be perfect like in the movies when the two characters looked into each other's eyes and then all of a sudden just lost control and started passionately kissing. Like they couldn't hold back any longer. Like all their sexual tension became too much to hold in and when they finally did kiss it was the most wonderful and important event in their lives.

Yeah right. _Get over it Claire._ That is never going to happen.

Quil's voice mail picked up which meant he was probably in wolf form and couldn't phase in time to get to his cell phone. After all it was his night for patrol. Or, he was avoiding me.

I hung up the phone before the beep. I didn't know what type of message to leave that wouldn't make me sound like a lunatic so I sent him a text instead.

_**Where were you about an hour ago? PA maybe? – C**_

Accusatory? Yes. Bitchy? Maybe. The one thing about text messages is that the other person needs to be the one to interpret the sender's mood.

_**Sorry. WF when you called. Am I in trouble? – Q**_

Quil did interpret the bitchiness as intended. "WF" meant wolf-form, so I'm glad he wasn't avoiding me.

_**Depends. You didn't answer my question. – C**_

_**Can I come over in an hour? – Q**_

_**Sure – C**_

Quil sounded guilty to me.

I had a whole hour to think about what I wanted to say to Quil, but I needed some advice. I needed to talk to the only other girl I knew who grew up with her own wolf, but she eventually married him. Our situation is similar, but different. She has been my friend for as long as I can remember. She is the person I can tell anything to and I never feel embarrassed. She gets me and I get her.

Renesemee Cullen Black. Her friends call her Nessie.

My phone rang before I could start dialing Nessie. Nessie's phone number and the goofy picture I took of the two of us popped on the screen. Before I could say anything into the receiver Nessie's excited voice piped in.

"You kissed a boy!" she squealed. Am I the only girl who doesn't squeal?

"Alice?" I asked.

Alice is Nessie's aunt who can see the future. Alice and the rest of the Cullens are vampires, most with special talents. Nessie is a half-vampire who can show you visual images just by touching you. It's hard to explain, but her ability was pretty cool when I was little. Still is.

How can I be friends with a half-vampire and her family of full vampires, the mortal enemies of the wolves? Well, the Cullens are different. They don't eat humans; they eat animals…not wolves. And how they became allies is a long story.

"Yes, I asked Alice to check in on you since I haven't talked to you in awhile. That was Tuesday when she told me about your date and the kiss and I've been dying to call you! She told me you were about to call me so it was safe." Nessie rambled. She was an excited little thing. She reminded me of Katie.

"You knew Tuesday that Jason was going to kiss me and you didn't tell me?" Since Alice's visions are subjective, which meant my not-kissing-on-the-first-date rule was really bunk in my head. I knew I wanted to kiss Jason before I knew he was going to kiss me.

"You know I can't do that Claire!" Nessie chided lightly. "Alice can't see you a lot since you're with Quil all the time, so I'm excited when Alice can see things. I wasn't going to get you all nervous for your moment."

Alice can't "see" the wolves. They are big black spots in her visions. So, I can't really cheat and have Nessie ask Alice to check on the future of Quil and me. Bummer. Nessie probably wouldn't tell me anyway.

"So, what's up? Why do you sound so bummed out? Didn't you have a good time on your date?" she asked.

I sighed and wondered if I should just come out and say it.

"I do like him. He's really nice," I hesitated and Nessie patiently waited. "When did you fall in love with Jacob?"

"I've always loved Jacob, Claire." Jacob is Nessie's husband, an alpha wolf, and has been one of Quil's best friends since they were both five years old. Jacob and Nessie have been together since she was a baby too.

The math doesn't add up you say? Nessie being friends since we were little and she's married to Jacob now. Because Nessie is a half-vamp, her age accelerated like four thousand percent. Ok, so maybe not four thousand, but I've mentioned my math skills, right? She's been stuck at age twenty-something and will be forever.

Jacob and Nessie's relationship is another reason why the Cullens and the wolves don't try to kill each other.

"I know you've always loved Jacob, but when did you _fall_ in love with Jacob?"

"Hmmm…" Nessie paused while she tried to remember. "He's my everything, Claire. I've always been in love with him." I heard wet smacking noises on her side of the line.

"Ew, are you kissing Jacob right now?" I asked in disbelief. Jacob must've heard everything I've said.

"Sorry," Nessie giggled.

"Tell him not to say anything to Quil, pleeeeese."

"Are you in love with Jason or Quil?" Nessie asked. I heard her shoo Jacob away with another giggle.

"It's too early to be _in love_ with Jason."

"You're being difficult Claire," Nessie scolded. She was going to make me say it out loud. I knew if I did say it out loud.

"I'm in love with Quil, ok?" I groaned.

"And what are you going to do about it?" She asked. That wasn't the response I expected.

"What? What am I going to do about what?" I was so confused.

"About Quil! When are you going to tell him? Are you going to kiss _him_ next? Or are you going to sulk around and ignore it and never find out what could be between the two of you?"

I gaped into the phone. Nessie was crazy if she thought I was going to tell Quil.

"Um, never, no and probably, yeah, to answer your questions."

"Claire," Nessie took on her motherly tone, "Jacob waited for me."

"That is SO different. You two are both freaks of nature and meant to be together," I replied. Besides Quil, Nessie was my favorite freak.

"Both are true, but you and I have similar situations. You really need to talk to Quil about this."

"I don't see what the point would be. I'm half his age, I'm not even seventeen yet and he doesn't love me like that. We're just friends and that's it." Saying those things out loud made my chest hurt. It made me feel more pathetic.

I heard Nessie let out a long sigh on the other end of the line. "Ok, listen to me. I'm full of a lot of useful information Claire, but I'm only going to leave you with these things to think about. One. You two have been _friends _since you were two years old. Two. Have you ever seen Quil date anyone? Three. Quil _likes_ spending time with you and does it on a regular basis. And finally four. Your and my situations are very similar."

"You're ridiculous," I mumbled. I was tired and I've never liked to interpret Nessie's "things to think about."

"Talk to Quil. Love you!" Nessie practically sang and hung up the phone, giving me nothing more.

I smacked my head on my pillow defeated. Everyone was so freaking cryptic lately. I thought about what Katie said about me being Quil's favorite, but that's just because we understand each other. I thought about Karla's observation of how Quil looked at me liked other wolves looked at their wives or girlfriends, but I'm not either to Quil. I thought about what Nessie said too. Our situations are very similar. I could only wish Quil would fall in love with me the way Jacob did with Nessie. Quil is my ideal guy. He's in tune with everything about me. He knows exactly what I need at all times. I wouldn't know what to do if he wasn't in my life. He did this to me! Quil is the one that made me fall in love with him.

_I love you Quil._

"I love you too Claire-Bear." I felt a kiss on my forehead.

I was startled to hear Quil's voice answer my thoughts. Apparently I spoke out loud. I was disoriented and found myself wrapped in Quil's warm arms, snuggled up in his bare chest. I didn't realize I fell asleep. I had a strong urge to lick that bare chest.

"How long have you been here?" I asked and propped myself up on one arm to look at the clock. It was just after midnight.

"About an hour or so. Thought you'd wait up and lay into me." Quil looked almost embarrassed. He looked up at me with pathetic, guilty smile.

"I hate you," I told him playfully, trying really hard to put some anger behind it, but it didn't work.

"Nope, you just told me you loved me. How can you feel such opposite emotions at the same time?" Quil asked with a smug look on his face.

"I hate you because I can't stay mad at you and I love you because…because you're a pain in the ass," I grumbled.

"Sounds complicated," Quil replied.

"_You're_ complicated." I mumbled and stretched out on my bed next to Quil. I scooted away from him a little and positioned myself on my stomach to try to stay away from his body. I couldn't start yelling at him if he distracted me with his shirtless, hot chest.

"And how am I complicated?"

I thought about that before I answered. I really had a bunch of examples of why I thought that, but I only wanted one answer right now.

"Why did you follow me tonight?" I looked right in his eyes when I asked. I was trying to show him how not-ok that was.

"How did you know?" Quil asked with a smirk that made me think he knew my answer.

"Just why, Quil?"

Quil sighed and turned his body to mimic my position next to me. Both on our stomachs, but facing each other on the full size bed, our shoulders touching because of Quil's size.

"I didn't start out following you, Claire. Sam had me covering the North and I thought about you and kept running. I knew where you were." He stopped talking like that was a good enough explanation.

"But _why_?" I asked again.

"I know it's going to piss you off and I'm sorry, but I had to make sure you were ok. I didn't want him to force you into something you didn't want to do," he winced a little after he said it, waiting for me to strike back. I tried to stay calm. His reaction to me seemed to be the same old thing; protection.

"Did it look like he forced me into anything?" I asked. If I knew Quil like I thought I did, he would've stuck around to make sure nothing happened after that kiss.

"No." Quil stated with a disappointed look. "How did you know I was there?" he asked again.

I thought about what I could say without giving away too much. "I had a feeling," I said and touched my chest lightly. That statement could have meant anything, but it seemed to mean a lot to Quil. He gave me a smile that warmed me to my toes. He reached out his arm and pulled me to his chest. I let him.

"Can you please not follow me anymore? It's creepy." I asked, smiling into his bare chest. I brought my hands under my chin and my legs up to my chest and snuggled my face into Quil. He smelled so good; fresh and woodsy.

"Hmmmm…I can't really promise that," he said. I pinched him. "Ow! I'll try not to, but that's all you're getting out of me." I huffed in response. "So, how was the movie you saw without me?" He was trying to make me feel guilty.

"Oh man, it was so bad. If you want to see it, you're going to have to see it alone. I'm not seeing it a second time," I laughed. And just like that, my anger towards Quil was gone. For now. I knew one day I would bring up all the things I had on my mind, but for now I didn't care. I was too tired and too happy about being nestled up with my hunky friend to care anymore.

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**Let me know what you think. I love to hear from my new readers.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Howdy! Hopefully I get the imprint couples correct. Please feel free to correct me :)**

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Chapter 9.

You know how there is a name for each grouping of animals? A herd of buffalo, a flock of sheep, a pack of wolves. Is there a group name for women? I wonder about that as I pick through my salad at lunch. Several conversations go on around me. Since I'm sitting with a bunch of "Wolf Girls," I'm going to consider us a pack.

The term Wolf Girls was originally coined when I was a little girl. You were considered a Wolf Girl if you were involved, in any way, with a member of the pack. You could be married, a girlfriend, or just hang out with the boys on a regular basis…like me.

Leah Clearwater-Hirsch, the one and only female shape-shifting wolf, is visiting from out of town so the official Wolf Girls considered it a great excuse to all get together to eat and shop. Leah decided to stop phasing as a wolf to lead a normal life outside of the reservation with her husband Allen. She likes to visit a few times a year.

The girls that make up the pack of Wolf Girls is Emily (my mom's sister and wife of Sam, the Alpha male), Tala (my cousin Seth's wife), Kim (Jared's wife), Rachel (Paul's wife), Ashley (Collin's wife), Abby (Embry's wife), and me. Nobody's wife. I'm considered a Wolf Girl because of my friendship with Quil.

The pack of women circled a corner booth at our favorite diner in Port Angeles. Unfortunately, La Push was in the middle of nowhere so if anyone wanted to do anything special they needed to drive an hour and a half to Port Angeles. "PA" had just about everything a smaller town didn't.

The conversation on the drive into town…we all crammed into Tala's minivan, intended for only seven people…continued into the diner. I was ignorant to believe the topic of my date with Jason wouldn't come up. The ladies waited until my mouth was full of leafy greens before pouncing me with questions.

"Claire, your mom tells me you had a date on Friday?" Aunt Emily was the first to pounce. I stopped mid-chew and glanced up at her. Every other face at the table was staring at me expectantly.

"Yup," I responded and kept chewing while poking through the leaves for more chunks of chicken.

"You had a date?" Leah asked. It sounded like she was the only one who wasn't informed. "Did he finally tell you?"

I stopped in mid-chew again and gave Leah a confused look. "Huh?" I asked at the same time several grumbles and coughs came from the other ladies.

"Ow." It looked like Tala elbowed Leah.

"His name is Jason and he goes to school with Claire," Emily answered Leah as I stared at Leah trying to decipher her question. Before I was able to ask Leah what she meant, Emily cut me off.

"Ah, how did Quil take it?" Leah asked.

"Oh you know, he gave Jason the stink-eye, almost crushed his hand shaking it, growled at him, and followed us around town," I replied with a shrugged. "The usual."

"He followed you?" Tala asked. Ashley and Kim rolled their eyes and shook their heads in disbelief.

"You know how he is. I can't do anything without a lecture on safety. I couldn't go out with Jason unless we double-dated with my sister and her date." A few of the ladies nodded their heads in understanding. They knew how Quil was with me.

"Jan got some great pictures of her and Jason. Katie went out with that cute boy from the shop, Rob." Emily continued.

"Oh, he is a cutie," Ashley replied. "And so nice!" Kim added. Kim and Ashley filled the others in on Rob since they both worked part time at the shop.

"Mom got the pictures already?" I asked to no one in particular. It had only been two days.

"Ok, so back to this Jason guy," Tala drew the conversation back to me. I internally groaned.

"Yeah, what about him?" I asked nicely, trying to be polite.

"Do you like him?" Tala asked.

"Yeah, he's really nice," I replied and tried to keep the grin from spreading across my face. It didn't work too well. There were several 'awes' and cooing that came from the ladies.

"I heard he kissed you," Aunt Emily said. More girlie squeals and excitement came from the crew.

"God! My mom tells you everything doesn't she?" I groaned.

"Oh, oh, oh…was he a good kisser?" Kim asked. I knew she wasn't trying to embarrass me. She was always genuinely happy for that lovey-dovey stuff.

"It was…ok," I answered into my salad. I have always been more comfortable speaking with the Wolf Girls than my own sister and mother about personal stuff, but with every one of them scrutinizing me it was hard to spill my guts.

"Just ok?" Kim asked, actually looking disappointed.

"Well, I've never kissed anyone before so at first it was…awkward," I shrugged.

"Did it get better?" Abby asked.

"Like all sorts of warmth and electricity was running from your mouth all throughout your body?" Kim asked with a dreamy look in her eye.

"Well, no, not rea…" I tried to answer but kept getting interrupted.

"Did you constantly want to touch him during your date and feel so much better when you did?" Ashley asked.

"I held his hand a little, but…"

"Did the feeling in your chest become stronger once you finally kissed him for the first time?" Tala asked. "And then you knew he was the one and only for you?"

_Feeling in my chest? Did everyone get that?_

"Actually no, I didn't feel anything in my chest with Jason," I mumbled as everyone compared their kisses with their significant others. I glanced over to Leah. She was the only person not going on and on about making out. Leah rolled her eyes and stuck her finger down her throat, pretending to gag. I laughed and rolled my eyes too.

"Is that something I should be feeling?" I whispered to Leah. She smirked in reply and shrugged one shoulder. She didn't seem to know what the rest of the girls were talking about.

I certainly didn't feel that way about Jason. I liked kissing him and hoped to again, but I didn't know if that was my crazy hormones kicking in and enjoying the experience or if it had to do with Jason. I have experienced all those feeling, but the kissing part, with Quil. Just thinking about kissing Quil gave me all those warm, dreamy feelings everyone was talking about.

"Is that…um, does that mean you're in love with someone? If you feel all that?" I asked timidly. When I looked up I noticed everyone had a small smile on their face. All eyes darted around to each other, avoiding contact with mine.

I looked at my Aunt Emily and she answered me, nodding slightly. "Yeah, and a lot more. Are you in love…with Jason?"

The table suddenly seemed quieter as everyone waited for my answer. I shook my head slightly and looked down at my food again.

"No. It's too early to tell how I feel," I answered.

"What about Quil?" Leah asked. My head snapped up and I could feel my cheeks blush. A couple of the ladies snickered. "If he was following you did he see Jason kiss you?"

"Oh, um, yeah he did." I laughed a little. "Actually I think the whole sex thing freaks him out."

"You're having sex with Jason?" Kim squawked. Several shocked faces looked my way.

"No! God! I'm not having sex with Jason. You can all relax," I said. I could actually see everyone relax. "Quil was all concerned about Jason taking advantage of me so he wanted to have _the talk_. Can we please steer the conversation on to something else?" I could feel my face burning from embarrassment.

The conversation moved away from me, but stayed on the subject of sex. I wanted to die. I didn't want to hear what everyone at the table did and enjoyed. And I certainly didn't want to hear what particular skill their significant others were good at. Apparently they were all comfortable talking about it because they were getting pretty intimate.

"Hey, they all have access to each other's minds so why shouldn't we?" Kim explained to me.

"You get the best of the best," Abby wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"Yeah, we learn new things this way," Aunt Emily added.

"Yeah, but it's one thing to hear what Jared does to Kim, but it's totally different hearing what my Uncle does to you," I said to Emily and shivered. "Gross."

"Imagine being a girl and listening to a bunch of teenage boys' minds. Talk about gross," Leah shuddered. "That shit will mess you up, thinking about girls in a certain way and me being straight. I had a girl-crush on Kim for several months."

"Ha! Yeah, sorry about that Leah," Kim laughed. "Jared was pretty intense."

I couldn't help but laugh with the rest of the ladies. Our little pack family was way too close.

"Aren't any of you worried about what the other guys are seeing in their heads? Like your naked body and being all pervy about it?" I asked.

"Nah, they are all pretty good about blocking out that sort of thing while in wolf form," Abby answered. "It's the ones who aren't imp…" Emily's cough interrupted Abby's sentence. "It's the ones who aren't in relationships that you have to worry about."

"Like Brady. That boy needs his own relationship so he can focus on her," Kim added with air quotes emphasizing the word 'relationship.'

"He's getting much better," Ashley giggled. "Collin pretty much rips Brady's eyeballs out if he looks at me longer than he should."

"Still, that would just be embarrassing to me. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that," I smiled.

When I got home from the interesting girls day out, Quil was waiting for me. Mom and Katie were gone.

"Your boyfriend called," Quil sneered as he held up a small note with Jason's phone number on it between his fingers.

"He's not my boyfriend," I replied and tried to grab the piece of paper. Quil kept snapping it out of my reach. "Just give it to me!" He finally surrendered the note.

"You sit with him at lunch every day, right?" Quil teased.

"So, I eat lots of meals with you too." I argued. "And I go to the movies with you and hang out with you a lot. You're not my boyfriend. So what's the difference?" I glanced down at Quil's scribbles on the note.

"You kiss him." Quil answered quietly, all teasing ceased.

Does Quil know how bad I want to kiss him? How much I want him to be my boyfriend? The conversations with the ladies earlier were still on my brain and definitely had me thinking what it would be like to be with Quil in that way. I thought about it a lot on the ride home from PA.

I could feel my cheeks warming up so I cleared my throat and changed the subject.

"Were you nice to him?" I asked Quil, holding up the note.

"Sure," Quil answered.

"He's really nice Quil and he's never done anything inappropriate to me," I whined. "Can you just be nice to him? I think you'd like him if you gave him a chance."

Quil gave a non-committal shrug.

"So, what did you ladies do today?" Quil asked with his head sticking in the fridge.

"Shopped, ate, and talked about sex," I replied. The last part slipped out before I could stop myself. Apparently my brain still wanted to discuss it.

Quil's head quickly appeared around the refrigerator door. "What?"

"I heard a lot more about those ladies and your pack brothers than I really wanted to know."

"They talk about that stuff? In front of you?" Quil looked disgusted.

"Oh please. I'm almost seventeen – in twenty-two days – and it's not like I don't know what all goes on," I answered and made sure to remind him of my upcoming birthday.

"It's down to twenty-two days now, is it?" Quil continued to frown.

"It was a bit TMI, but it didn't seem to faze any of them," I ignored his frown. "They must talk about it all the time. They say that it's a good thing because you guys share and get the best from the best…as Abby called it."

"Not voluntarily," Quil grimaced.

I wondered if Quil ever used any ideas or techniques that he picked out of the pack's mind on a woman. But I was too afraid to ask. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer. Instead I asked a more innocent question. One I never really thought of before either.

"Quil?"

"Yeah?" His back was towards me as he looked in the pantry. Apparently I needed to make him dinner.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"Claire-Bear, I think you would know if I've ever had a girlfriend."

"Why not?" I saw Quil's body pause slightly in his search for food.

"I dunno," he answered with a shrug and continued to scour the shelves.

"Are you gay?"

"No, I'm not gay!" Quil glanced back at me and gave me a look like it was a crazy idea.

"You seem to be overly defensive about not being gay."

"Claire-Bear, you know I'm not gay," he smiled slightly. His body turned to face me.

"Well, you don't have a girlfriend and you haven't ever had one that I know of. Other than me you hang out with a bunch of guys who are naked half of the time," I teased.

"We are not naked half of the time."

"Wouldn't you rather be looking at a naked girl half the time, instead?"

"If I had the choice, yes, I would prefer to look at a naked girl than my pack brothers," he answered with an amused grin.

"So then, why don't you have a girlfriend that you can look at…naked?" I started to get a little braver with my questions.

"Claire," Quil sighed. He leaned with his back against the countertop.

"Quil," I mimicked his tone and continued to look at him until he answered.

Quil was quiet for a few seconds and stared right back. I finally caved first.

"Don't you…want one?" I mumbled. Of course his wolf ears heard me.

"Of course. Someday," he responded. His foot started to knock against the cupboard. His leg always had a way of fidgeting when he was nervous.

"What are you waiting for?" I stared at him and asked.

"I'm not ready." Quil stared back; his leg still continued to twitch.

"When will you be ready?"

There was an awkward, quiet lapse of time where the two of us just stood there and watched each other. I challenged him by not looking away.

"I don't know. Maybe…twenty-two days."

_Twenty-two days?_

"My birthday? What does my birthday have to do with whether you are ready for a girlfriend or not?"

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**My my my Quil...he's driving me crazy. Isn't he getting on your nerves? I agree with some of my reviewers who say Claire is kind of whiney and immature. Yes, yes she is and she's supposed to be. When I think of Claire, I think of someone who gets her way most of the time from the person who has always been there...Quil. Plus, she's only sixteen! (hopefully I don't offend any teens out there) It's been along time since I've been sixteen, but I can remember most of my friends (and probably myself as well) who were so immature, clueless, and they worried about their body image all the time. That was a big one for me. **

**I know not all girls are like that, but my version of Claire is. Don't worry, she'll grow up and finally get a clue eventually. You would think this little conversation with the other wolf girls would spark more questions, but she gets side-tracked easily. **

**If you agree or disagree, let me know! I love to hear your opinions and your thoughts on the story so far. Thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I was tired of everyone acting so cryptic lately. The Wolf Girls said a few things at lunch earlier in the day that I just let go, because obviously they weren't going to elaborate, and now Quil was trying to blow off his comment about how my seventeenth birthday had something to do with whether he was ready for a girlfriend or not. Nothing made sense.

"Where are you going?" I asked Quil as I followed him towards the door to the front porch.

"I'm not ready for this," I thought I heard him say.

"What?"

"I'm going to go home and get something to eat," he continued his stride in the direction of the door. I grabbed his hand and had to pull hard to get him to stop. The warm hum of our hands being connected made him pause and he stopped. He didn't look at me though.

"I can make you something if you're hungry! Plus, I'm not going to let you leave until you answer my question," I practically grumbled to the back of his head. He had a nice head…where his long neck connected to the back of his ear…_ugh!_ Touching Quil made the attraction for him ten times worse. I threw his hand away and stood back a step to clear my head.

"And what question is that, again?" Quil asked and turned his body towards mine. He kept his eyes on the hand I recently held, watching his fingers flex.

"Are you friggin' kidding me!" I screeched. I could feel myself ready to burst as my temper came to the surface. I didn't want Quil to see me like this again. I already had one quarrel with him this week and it sucked. I didn't want to do it again.

I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes so I huffed, turned around, and headed for the living room. I heard Quil let out a long sigh, but I didn't look back.

When I heard the front door open and shut again I slumped down on the couch and let the tears fall down my face. I thought Quil left, but he didn't. He appeared on the couch next to me in his usual stealth-like way.

"Shit," I said in surprise and quickly wiped away my tears as if Quil hadn't seen them. I immediately glanced up quickly and quietly apologized for swearing. I knew he didn't like it when I did.

"Why are you crying?" Quil asked softly.

"I'm just so tired of everyone being so cryptic lately. The girls seemed to be a little secretive today…acting all weird towards me. You seem to be acting differently lately. I feel so out of the loop," I said with a nasally voice as I looked down at my hands.

"And it all seemed to have started when I agreed to go out on a date with Jason," I continued. Which wasn't totally true. It all seemed to start a few months prior when my feelings for Quil changed. When I felt an electric charge between us. When I decided I wanted to be more than friends with Quil. But of course I wasn't going to admit to that.

I threw my hands up and let them fall back into my lap. "Maybe it's just all in my head. I'm totally P-M-S-ing. You know how I get," I said with a small smile. I tried for a little hormone-humor.

Quil sat next to me facing the television's blank screen and offered nothing. Since he didn't say anything I continued.

"I just want everything back to how it was. My normal life, my normal friends, and I want you and I back to how we were."

"What's different about us now?" Quil finally spoke up. I wasn't sure how to answer the question without revealing my feelings.

"You've been acting…I don't know…different," I shrugged. I decided to put the blame on him instead of giving my feelings away, but it was still the truth. "It feels like you're keeping something from me. And I know you said you weren't, but you do seem upset that I went out with Jason and that I'm going to the dance with him too."

Quil rubbed his palms over his face and his leg started to become restless again.

"Claire-Bear, I want you to have a normal life away from all this supernatural stuff. You do need other friends and you should do normal teenage things. But you're right…I'm having a real hard time with it," Quil finally admitted it.

"But why?" I begged him with my eyes to tell me. I hadn't even noticed how the space between shrunk. I was practically on his lap. I'm not sure how I got there.

Quil looked at my eyes, and then my mouth, and then quickly scanned the rest of my body before squeezing his eyes shut with a painful look on his face.

"Please Quil," I whispered and fought my hand from wanting to reach up to sooth him by touching his face.

"It's just," Quil paused and sighed before continuing. "You're not a little girl anymore and you're so close…" He let out another sigh. "You're right. There is something you need to know," he said softly. I think he noticed how close we were because he shifted himself further away from me. It wasn't obvious, but I noticed.

"You know how the wolves came about to protect our people from the cold ones?" He started to explain. I nodded, watching his face closely. "Along with all that responsibility, some of us were given the opportunity to protect and take care of a special person. When I met you for the first time I knew that you were that special person…for me. You are special, Claire."

I could feel my heartbeat accelerate and it felt like it was trying to beat its way out of my chest. To hear Quil tell me I was special to him made me feel really good.

"Me?" I squeaked. Quil nodded slightly. "What does that mean? I was only two years old."

"It means…" he paused the way he does when he's trying to get the wording right, "it means the powers that be, the mighty spirit warrior, whoever it was, decided you were special enough to look over and protect. I was given that responsibility."

_Responsibility._ Quil was responsible for my safety and for taking care of me all because some ancient voodoo magic decided he had to. Great. I was a burden to him. I'm the reason why he didn't ever date or have a normal life.

"Why am I so special?" I mumbled and stared at my hands in my lap. I wasn't really buying his whole story.

"God Claire," Quil sighed in frustration. "You don't see yourself like everyone else does," he paused to try to catch my gaze. When I didn't look up at him, he used his finger under my jaw to tilt up my head.

"You don't see yourself like I see you," he added. I could feel my face warming up. Quil's face was so close and his fingers lingered on my jaw.

"You're so beautiful Claire," he said with a soft smile. "You're smart, and sweet, and funny, and fun to be around." I could feel my eyes start to water from the emotion on Quil's face, but I knew it wasn't the exact emotion I wanted to see from him.

I came so close to leaning in to kiss him. After hearing his words and the expression on his face, he made me feel like the most extraordinary person in the world. Just when I got the nerve to actually tilt my face towards his he said the following words:

"I'm so glad I was given that responsibility." He said it with a warm smile, but I heard that one word again…_responsibility_…and I could feel my face fall from the disappointment that one word brought me.

"Responsibility," I whispered.

"Yes, you're _my_ responsibility and I couldn't be happier." Quil seemed genuinely excited about the idea. "You're meant for great things Claire."

If you search the word _responsibility_ in the thesaurus, the other words that pop up are: blame, liability, job, duty, task. I saw his confession as a bad thing. I am to blame for the reason Quil doesn't have a normal life with a normal girl. I am his liability, protecting me from Lord knows what, for unknown reasons. I am his duty. I was supposedly given to him as a task.

I let out a big sigh from the disappointment I felt. I didn't see why Quil was excited about this. If I were stuck with a two year old when I was a fifteen year old boy I would've been annoyed.

I shifted myself a few inches away from Quil. I still didn't quite understand why I was so special when I felt so rejected. I felt the only reason Quil hung out with me so much was because he had to.

"What's this have to do with when I turn 17?"

Quil sat quietly for a minute or two before he answered. His eyes darted around the room as it looked like he was working out the words in his head again.

"I told myself when you turned seventeen I would tell you," Quil finally answered.

"Why seventeen?" Seventeen didn't make sense to me. Couldn't he still tell me when I was little, take care of me (because our ancestors decided he needed to protect me), and have a girlfriend at the same time? I know he takes his wolf duties seriously, but to sacrifice not having a relationship?

"I thought maybe when you were seventeen you would be mature enough to let me know if you wanted me around or not. I want it to be your choice, Claire. I didn't want you to be with me because you felt you _had_ to be." He looked at me like he wanted some sort of reply.

"Of course," I whispered the truth. "I'll always want you around. In any way you'll have me," I could see Quil's shoulders relax and a warm smile took over his face. "But…" I continued and paused, not sure how to continue.

"But," Quil prompted with a worried look on his face.

"But, I've been holding you back Quil. I'm the reason you don't date, why you've never had a girlfriend, maybe even the reason why you didn't go off to college or something, right?"

"It's ok Claire-Bear, I don't need…" he started to quickly try to explain something, but I cut him off when a thought occurred to me. I knew he was fifteen when he met me. I knew he had never had a girlfriend.

"Oh my gosh, Quil. Are you a virgin?" I asked as I threw my hand over my mouth because I really didn't mean to ask it out loud, but I'm sort of glad I did.

"Um…well…I…" Quil stuttered. He was embarrassed. I actually embarrassed Quil for once.

"Well?"

Quil let out a growl of a sigh as his body went limp on the couch next to me.

"This is highly irrelevant Claire," Quil finally groaned out. He was a virgin! Usually when Quil didn't answer my question it meant I was correct in my assumption. And a little part of me was happy that he had never slept with anyone.

"Irrelevant?" I stood up and started pacing the living room. "Because of me you didn't have a normal teenage life."

"I think being a wolf was the main reason…"

"Because of me you've never had a girlfriend," I interrupted.

"Well that's not the _only_ reason…"

"Because of me you've never gotten laid!"

"Claire!" He looked disappointed in my choice of words.

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry. Because of me you haven't ever made love to a woman."

Quil stood up with a frustrated growl and started pacing the room too. We seemed to acquire each other's quirks over the years.

"You don't understand!" Quil barked.

"I understand completely!" I barked back. "You need a normal life with a girl your own age. Ask the wolf girls to set you up with someone." As much as it hurt me to say and hurt me to think of Quil having a girlfriend, I knew it was true and it was right. Being with me all the time was having a major effect on his love life.

"Claire, I don't want…" he stopped himself and actually slapped his own forehead.

"Quil," I said softly and wrapped my arms around his waist. I could feel Quil's tense body relax into mine. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I felt his face rub up against my hair.

I was done yelling. It was painful. "You said you wanted it to be my choice, right?"

I felt him nod his head into my hair.

"I want this for you. I want you to be happy and I want you to find the love of your life, ok? I'm like a major cock-blocker. "

"Oh Claire," Quil whispered. He was so serious tonight. He said Claire, without the Bear, a lot. He pulled away from me to look into my eyes.

"What do you want for _you_?" he asked.

I thought about my answer because I didn't want to lie to him. I wanted to tell him the absolute truth, but I couldn't. I wanted to be happy with him. I already thought of Quil as the love of my life. So I answered as truthfully as I could.

"The same thing."

**Quil, you big baby! Why didn't you tell her everything? It was your chance! Seriously, that man gets on my nerves.**

**Sorry for the delay! I will come out and tell you right now that it will be another two weeks for an update…you know, Christmas and all. I have week between holidays off for vacation, so I'll sneak another chapter in at that time.**

**Send me a note and tell me what you think! Thanks for all your reviews. I'm sorry I haven't responded. I'll try to catch up. You're lucky you got a chapter, ok! just kidding! Love you all! xoxo**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks to everyone who has left me a note or a review. I appreciate it all! Happy New Year!**

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Chapter 11.

It has been five days since my discussion with Quil. Five days since Quil told me I was his responsibility and I found out he was around me because I needed protection. The more I thought about our conversation, the more it didn't make sense. That explains his protective ways over me, but why the hell was I so special? Quil never really did answer that question. He did tell me I was sweet, and funny, etc., etc., but am I going to be the Supreme High Priestess of the Quiluete tribe some day? I highly doubt it.

It felt like Quil was keeping something from me. I didn't think he was lying to me, but it felt like there was more to the story. From the way Quil acted I don't think he would give up any more information soon. Several times during our phone conversations I wanted to ask him if there was anything else he needed to talk to me about. Every time I would wuss out.

Unfortunately, it has also been five days since I've seen Quil face to face. Sure, we talked on the phone every night and acted like nothing is wrong. He made excuses for not coming over, saying he needed to double patrol because he had to cover for someone else. I asked him if I should be worried about a vamp lurking around, but he assured me there wasn't. So, in my mind that meant he was avoiding me.

I know, I know! I'm the one who told him he needed to find himself a woman. I'm the one who told him he needed to find the love of his life. But I miss him terribly. After the first two days without seeing Quil I started getting distracted in school. I didn't have my daily Quil fix and I couldn't function properly. It seemed like it has been a lifetime since I've felt that tingly feeling in my chest from Quil's proximity. I hadn't realized I was addicted to it. Pathetic!

Jason even noticed. Every day he asked if I was alright. He said I didn't seem like myself. I just shrugged, tried to give him an assured smile, and told him I wasn't feeling too well and probably was coming down with the flu or something. The mention of my possible germs didn't prevent Jason from sneaking kisses from me throughout the day. I didn't mind. I admit, I liked kissing Jason and it seemed to be comforting to hold his hand and cuddle with him once in awhile. Sometimes it even distracted me from missing Quil. Sometimes.

Jason has been so sweet. He made small little gestures of cuteness throughout the week. He remembered my favorite band I casually mentioned during our date the previous weekend and he bought me their new CD, just because he happened to see it and knew I didn't have it.

On Wednesday he brought a couple cookies to school for me that his mom baked the night before. She made them for the elementary bake sale, but he sneaked a couple anyway. He knew chocolate chip was my favorite. After thanking him I ate them both because I didn't care if they went straight to my butt. They were comforting.

So here I am, five days from the last time I saw Quil and seventeen days before my birthday, home alone, baking on a Friday night.

"Is Quil coming over tonight?" My mom asked as she strolled through the kitchen. I had just pulled out a tray full of oatmeal raisin cookies.

"No," I answered.

"Are you going out with Jason?" she asked.

"No," I scoffed. "I can't go out with Jason without a chaperone."

"What are those for?" Mom asked, pointing to the cookies.

"I'm babysitting over at Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam's. They're for the kids."

"Those are Quil's favorite," Mom said with a small smile as she snatched a cookie cooling on the wire rack.

"Oh. Yeah." I honestly hadn't thought of that. Apparently my brain had a hidden agenda to lure Quil over with cookies. He did have an excellent sniffer.

Suddenly the front door busted open and for a second I thought it was Quil. I thought maybe the delicious cinnamon and raisin smell had actually enticed him back and I could relieve the ache in my chest.

All hope was squashed when I saw a skinny blur of long dark hair fly through the kitchen, grab a cookie, and run towards her room.

"Thanks Claire!" Katie said as she held the stolen cookie in the air. "Gotta change. Rob is picking me up in ten minutes!" Then she ran to her room.

I leaned my head back dramatically and sighed. Katie was able to go out with Rob without going on a double date. I decided I was not going on a double date with Jason to the dance. I'll leave my safety in Jason's hands. I think he could handle it. Quil could kiss it!

"Claire, what's wrong?" My mom asked. I didn't exactly fill her in on my discussion with Quil. Hell, maybe she knew what was going on already, but I didn't want to let her know I knew anything either way.

"Nothing."

"Nothing. The big sigh, the constant scowl you've had on your face the entire week, that's nothing?" She was so observant.

"I think I pushed Quil away." I admitted.

"Why do you think that?" Mom asked while chewing on her cookie.

"I basically told him that he needed to stay away from me if he wanted a chance of ever having a girlfriend." I sighed.

"You what?" Mom choked out. She seemed to have a problem swallowing her raisin or something.

"It was so stupid. I'm feeling really selfish now because I want it back to how it used to be with us, but I pushed him away, Mom! I told him to find a girlfriend."

"I highly doubt you could keep Quil away for very long."

"I don't know…" I trailed off. I really thought I screwed things up with Quil.

"Did you ask him to come over?"

I shook my head. "He doesn't need an invitation, he knows that."

"True. Maybe he's just giving you some space. You've been hanging out with Jason at school and maybe he doesn't want to get in the way."

"Quil would never get in the way," I mumbled.

"Maybe since you told him he needed to find a girlfriend, Quil took that as a way of you telling him that you needed space to be with your boyfriend," Mom speculated.

"I don't have a boyfriend, Mom."

Mom looked at me with a quirked eyebrow – I got my talent from her – like I was lying or something.

"I don't consider Jason as my boyfriend," I argued with her brow quirk.

"So, you just kiss, cuddle, and hold hands with all the boys at school." she replied.

"No!" I blurted out and then realized Katie must have opened her big mouth. "No, just Jason. But we've never said anything about being boyfriend and girlfriend. Geez this sounds so high school!"

"Uh, Claire, you are in high school," Mom smirked.

Babysitting kind of fell into my lap when I became old enough for people to trust me with their children. I am the number one teenager on the rez parents call when a couple wanted a romantic evening to themselves or if there is important, official pack business where a couple both needed to attend a meeting. I make damn good money, plus it helps that I love kids.

Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam have two boys, my cousins. Nathan is seven and Ryan is five. Those boys are crazy, but in a fun sort of way. They aren't reckless or get into too much trouble. They are just loud and full of energy. Why did I decide to bring cookies over with me? Not sure. The boys wore me out by the time my job was done and they didn't need the extra energy that sugar brought on. Maybe I needed the challenge after a crappy week.

Sam actually tried to teach me his alpha voice to see if it would help the boys listen to me. It worked the first couple times I watched the boys, but after that they could tell I didn't have the power behind my threat.

I fell on the couch and turned the cartoons off. After an hour of shuffling tired kids back to their beds, the kids were finally asleep. I grabbed my glass of diet Coke and my copy of the latest in teen fantasy fiction and settled myself into the quietness of the house.

Several minutes later I was deep into the suspenseful story, my shoulders tense, when there was a knock at the door. I jerked with a start and dripped soda down the front of my shirt. I quietly cursed at the stain on my pink shirt and stood up walking towards the door, grabbing a dish towel on the way through the kitchen. I dabbed at the spot as I turned the knob, getting ready to curse Quil out. I assumed it was Quil. He always visited me when I watched the kids, but he was too late tonight to help.

"Quil, what took you so…" I stopped when I saw Jason in the doorway. My hand holding the towel froze on my chest. Jason's eyes went from mine and eyed the Coke stain. "I spilled Coke. Wh-what are you doing here?" I noticed my question sounded a little rude so I tried to give him a polite smile.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Jason asked. There seemed to be a glint of hurt that flashed through his eyes, but it vanished quickly as his dimple appeared along with his wide smile. I couldn't help but smile back and almost forgot my original question. Damn dimple.

"Yeah, kind of," I replied. "Um, so I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here?"

"I came to see you, if that ok?" He asked with a coy smile. Was it ok? Other than Quil, I've never had a boy visit me while babysitting. Quil was different. He wasn't a boy I was dating and he was allowed in another pack member's home.

"Yeah, I think that's ok." I stood in the doorway not moving and wondering what I should do next.

"Is it ok if I come in?" Jason asked as he gently grabbed my hand and took another step closer.

There was a tiny part of me that didn't think inviting Jason into the Uley's house was a good idea. I remembered the stories Quil heard about Jason and how he pushed himself on girls and if the girl wouldn't do what he wanted, he would dump the girl. After talking to Jason and getting to know him, I couldn't see him doing anything like that. But still.

Jason seemed to sense my hesitation.

"It will be just a minute. I won't stay long. I just wanted to see you again," he said softly with a shy smile. He lightly tucked a strand of hair behind my ears and my uncertainty went away.

"Ok, but let's stay out here. I'm not sure I'm supposed to have anyone over."

Jason didn't argue. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the porch swing.

"But you were expecting Quil?" He wasn't looking at me when he asked. Still holding my hand, Jason pulled me close to his side on the swing. "It's ok for him to visit you?" When he asked this question, Jason did look at me and his smile disappeared. He didn't look angry, but he did appear jealous. Of course it was ok for Quil to visit me when I babysat. He's my best friend, member of the pack, and I want to be with him as much as I can.

Could I tell Jason that? No, so instead I said, "He can tame the boys easier than I can." I mumbled the excuse and added, "He and my Uncle Sam are good friends."

"You're good friends with him too, right?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod and a smile.

"Just friends?" he asked me. Again, he kind of looked jealous, but he also looked as though he were waiting for me to yell at him for the absurd idea of being anything more than friends. I felt my smile fade a little.

"Yeah," I said again.

Jason appeared to consider and accept my answer, because he moved closer to me and put his arm around my shoulder. My heart was pounding in my throat and I could feel my body become still, wondering what he was going to do next.

"I had fun on our date," Jason said softly.

"Me too," I squeaked out. My mind went back to our kiss. My first kiss. I remembered how nice it was and I could feel my cheeks get warm from the way my body reacted from it. At school we weren't able to kiss like that again, only short little pecks.

After a minute or two of awkward silence I spoke up.

"So the dance, huh?"

"Yeah, is that still cool?" Jason asked. He looked at me like he wondered if I had changed my mind.

"Yes, of course!" I assured. Jason seemed to relax. "I heard you were going to ask me. Karla said she heard it from somebody…" I trailed off. We were having quite the conversation. I could tell he was as nervous as I was.

"I didn't know if you would say yes because we really didn't talk to each other…before our date."

Another awkward, quiet moment fell on us. I glanced up to ask him if he wanted a cookie when I felt his hand touch my face and tilt my face towards his.

"Hi," I whispered because I felt like I should say something, but then immediately felt stupid for saying it.

"Hi," Jason said back and chuckled before his lips touched mine.

And then we were kissing, again. And it was nice. Nicer than the first time. Jason was a good kisser. I wonder if he practiced on his pillow at home since the last time we kissed. Or maybe he was just less nervous than the first time. He was sucking on my lips and darting his tongue out to lightly touch mine or run it along my bottom lip. He tasted like garlic, but that was ok because I really like garlic.

I was getting into it and started to mimic Jason mouth movements, which in turn seemed to make him more excited and his hands started to get adventurous. His right hand ran down my left arm and made its way to my back, past my waist, and planted on the butt of my jeans. I let out a sort of squeaky moan as Jason pulled me towards him tighter with his hand on my ass.

I remember thinking I should probably stop this before things get out of hand. I remember thinking that I should be opposed to Jason's hand on my butt, but I wasn't. Not at all. I liked it. It felt good. I probably liked it more than I should. I also remember thinking that the boys were asleep inside the house so I assumed Jason wouldn't try anything more, so what we were doing was ok, right?

Damn teenage hormones!

Someone cleared their throat and it wasn't Jason or me. Four things happened in four seconds: our mouths detached; Jason's hand left my butt cheek; we moved away from each other on opposite ends of the porch swing; and my face flamed red.

"What's up?" Quil asked in a cool tone. His jaw clenched and the vein near his left temple bulged.

* * *

**A/N: Anyone want to make a wager on whether Jason is alive for the next chapter? Poor horny kid. **

**Please review! It brightens my stressful holiday! **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12.

"Do I smell cookies?" Quil asked as he stomped across the porch into the house. His usual graceful stride was replaced with heavy footsteps and his gruff, tight voice replaced his usual pleasant tone. Quil was mad. Not just mad, he was pissed!

"Um, I better get inside," I told Jason with an apologetic look once we were alone. I quickly pointed and shifted towards the door.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go," Jason replied. He looked slightly amused. My face must have exposed my anxiety because he asked if I would be ok.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I let out a weak chuckle trying to lighten the mood. "But I'll probably get a lecture!"

"Oh, sorry," Jason apologized seriously.

"Hey, it's ok. I'll be fine. Really." I smiled and started walking towards the door to face an angry Quil.

Jason seemed to pause before he took off down the steps, maybe contemplating one last kiss, but decided against it. He gave me a small wave and walked towards his car.

As I watched Jason leave I wondered what Quil had to say about the whole situation. As excited as I was to see Quil in person after almost a whole week, I was not eager to get inside the house to face him.

And how had I missed the tingling feeling in my chest when Quil was near? I didn't have that feeling once with Jason. Maybe kissing Jason cancelled out the sensation. How long had Quil been standing there watching us? Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't pick up Jason and throw him off the porch. I don't think Quil would actually do something like that, but maybe that's what I wanted him to do. As much as I liked Jason I probably would have been overjoyed to see Quil get crazy jealous like that. But he didn't. Quil seemed more concerned with getting to the cookies.

I found Quil sitting on the couch, finishing off the rest of the cookies, and watching TV. The vein in his head was still bulging. I stood there in the entryway of the living room and waited for the scolding to begin. Nothing happened. Quil watched TV and basically ignored me.

After I watched Quil eat the last cookie, it was obvious he was just going to let things go. I could tell he wanted to say something, but maybe he was afraid to make me mad. I took a seat next to him on the couch and chewed on my lip, not sure what to do next.

"Awesome cookies," Quil finally said. We both sat on the couch and looked at the television. Neither of us looked at each other.

"Thank you. Did you eat them all?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Did you get some?"

"No, but that's ok. I made them for the boys. They've had theirs." I paused for a minute and admitted out loud, "I think I made them for you because I was hoping you would come over."

"You were expecting me?" Quil asked quietly. He quickly glanced my way and returned his eyes to the television.

"Yeah. I assumed you'd come over, since you usually do when I watch the boys. I wasn't sure after not seeing you all week." I mumbled that last part.

"Were you expecting _him_?" Quil asked, referring to Jason. I felt myself deflate. I wasn't going to get away with anything. He wanted to talk about it.

"No," I sighed. "He just showed up. I didn't know he was coming over."

"Do you think it was a good idea to have him here?"

"I didn't _have_ him here. He just showed up." I explained as calmly as I could. It was like he wasn't listening to me. "He just got here and he wasn't going to stay long."

"He got right down to business, didn't he?" Quil mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing," Quil mumbled again.

"Why do I feel like I need to apologize for making out with Jason?" I asked. I swore I saw Quil flinch.

"No need to apologize to me, but maybe you should to yourself."

"What?" _Great. Here he goes._

He ignored me.

"Maybe you should apologize to Sam and Emily for fooling around with a _kid_ on their porch instead of watching their children." He scoffs the word 'kid' like it was a dirty. His voice was starting to get louder.

"We were just kissing," I hissed. "And would you please be quiet. I just got the boys to sleep and it took me forever! And I don't need to _watch_ them if they are sleeping!" Now my voice was starting to rise.

"But his hands…" Quil trailed off, taking in a large breath in an attempt to calm down.

I finally chanced a glance towards Quil. He was staring at me, but he didn't look mad at all. He almost looked hurt. I instantly felt guilty and I didn't even know why.

"I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry! I'm sorry for hanging out with a guy my age. I'm sorry for liking him. I'm sorry for kissing him and actually enjoying it. I'm not irresponsible Quil. I'm not going to do something stupid." My eyes started welling up with tears. "It makes me feel good that someone actually likes me like that. I'm almost seventeen years old and until last weekend I have never been kissed. I've never been on a date. No boy has ever looked at me that way before. They rarely ever talk to me!" At this time the tears were falling. I felt so stupid.

Quil slowly moved towards me during my rant. The anger in his face disappeared and the vein in his forehead quit bulging. His body heat warmed me up and helped calm me down. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Why do I feel so guilty?" I slumped into Quil's side. His arm wrapped around my shoulder and his opposite hand smoothed out my hair.

Quil's comforting made my tears and sobs come harder. I loved the feeling of being in his arms. His warm body always made me feel safe and loved. But he didn't love me in that way, so it hurt a little to stay in that nook under his arm. I couldn't make myself crawl out of my favorite spot.

Quil whispered soothing words in my ear until I calmed down.

"Why Quil?" I looked up at him and asked again. Our faces were pretty close. His eyebrows knitted together, not understanding my question. "Why do I feel so guilty for having a boyfriend…for liking a boy?" I seemed to consider Jason my boyfriend now. "Whenever I mention Jason you seem to flinch and look hurt. It makes me not want to tell you anything because it hurts to see your face like that."

"You shouldn't feel guilty. I'm sorry I make you feel like that. It's hard for me. It's just…you aren't my Claire-Bear anymore," Quil murmured.

I could see a hint of a tear in the corner of his left eye. His huge hand was on the side of my face with his thumb stroking my cheek. I could feel my breathing accelerate from our closeness. I swear it looked like he was leaning in to kiss me, but he decided against it at the last minute. Instead, he rested his forehead on mine. Being so close to Quil made me delusional.

"You're almost a grown woman and I'm afraid of losing you," he continued. Those words shocked me.

"You're not going to lose me Quil. You're my best friend. I love you so much," I whispered that last part.

And then, because I'm a hormonal teenager, and Quil's closeness messed with my brain, I leaned my mouth towards his. I don't know where I got the courage. He was touching me and telling me he was afraid of losing me, what the hell was I supposed to do? Just before my lips touched his, Quil awkwardly shifted his mouth to my forehead and kissed it, his bottom lip snagged my nose on the way up.

"I love you too Claire," he whispered and left me alone on the couch.

Sam and Emily came home and found me crying face first into the couch cushion. I'm not sure how long I had been laying there feeling sorry for myself before they got home, but Emily seemed to know what had happened. She seemed to know I had been rejected…in a big way.

"Oh sweetie, everything will be ok. I promise," Emily tried to console me by holding my shoulders and letting me cry into hers.

"Jason came over," I decided to confess.

"It's ok," Emily said as he stroked my hair and rocked me back and forth.

After my sobbing finally calmed down I confessed something else.

"I love him," I whispered.

"I know," Emily answered. She knew I didn't mean Jason.

I swore I heard Sam mutter "dumbass."

Another ten horrible, lonely days go by. I must have totally screwed things up by trying to kiss Quil. Other than three awkward phone calls with Quil, I've only seen him in person twice in those ten days. Twice! And it was only for a couple hours each time. He just showed up at my house out of the blue, unannounced. I was ecstatic both times and I couldn't keep the smile that grew on my face when I saw him at my door. I would like to think he was there because he missed me too much, but when he was there he hardly spoke to me. Quil would sit or stand near me, but focused most of his attention towards the other members of my family. He didn't completely ignore me. It was just different. He did reply when I spoke to him and he did hug me good-bye when he left, but it wasn't enough for me. My chest felt like it would split in half both times he left. His short visits actually made me feel worse.

Jason's company helped a little. Holding his hand, kissing him between classes, studying for tests together, was supposed to take my mind off Quil, but it only made me think of Quil more and how I wanted to do those things with him. It wasn't fair to Jason and I began to realize I was using him. I used him to fill the void in the relationship I had with Quil. Jason was so nice and sweet and I really liked hanging out with him, but I desired someone else. I wanted the attention of someone else, but that someone sent me confusing signals and ended up rejecting me. Until I got over Quil, all other relationships I had with the opposite sex would be doomed.

I had one more day until the school dance and seven more days until my birthday. I told myself I would enjoy my relationship with Jason and not take it any further than things have gone so far. I needed to just have fun. I needed to ignore the aching in my chest for Quil and enjoy myself at the dance. I needed to continue to be excited about my seventeenth birthday and forget about Quil's revelation of being my protector and guardian until I was old enough to decide whether I needed him or not. Apparently he made that decision for me.

Jason picked me up for the dance at six o'clock sharp on Saturday night. We were going alone in Jason's car for the first time and I was wearing the new dress I bought for myself at the mall. The dress Quil decided was too old for me and refused to buy me. I felt so naughty going against Quil's wishes. Kind of like I was shoving it in his face…even though his face wasn't around to shove it in. _Ha! I'll ride alone in Jason's car and I'll wear this hot dress. See if you make me feel shitty about falling in love with you._

The dance actually didn't start until seven o'clock, but we figured we'd give my mom plenty of time to take all the pictures she wanted. I had hoped Quil would show up to see me off, because he never missed an event in my life, but I knew he wouldn't. I was going out on another date with Jason and apparently Quil didn't like Jason.

Once Jason and I were in his car on the way towards the school, where the dance was being held, Jason grabbed my hand and held it for the entire ride.

"You do look really pretty," Jason complimented me a second time with a shy smile. But I noticed this time his eyes shift quickly to my boobs when he thought I wasn't looking. Katie did draw attention to my chest back at the house. She made some comment about how I could give her half of my boobs and still have plenty left over. I almost punched her dolled-up face for making a scene.

"Thanks, you look really nice, too." I replied. Jason wore a nice suit which made him look a little older and much more attractive than he already was. He lifted our entwined hands and kissed my knuckles.

Before we walked into the gym we had to get yet another picture taken. The photographer posed us in the traditional position standing Jason behind me with his hands placed on my hips.

"This is so cheesy," I whispered through my clenched smile before the camera flashed.

"I know," Jason laughed and gently pushed me out of the way so the next couple could be tortured. "Come on, I see Marshal."

Jason's friend Marshal asked my friend Karla to the dance using a lot of persuasion. Karla didn't do dances, she never has, and she certainly didn't like to dress up. But she did like to be pampered. Marshal promised her a nice dinner and flowers before the dance if she would agree to go with him. She reluctantly agreed. But by the looks of how the two were dancing Karla had been sufficiently wooed.

"Whoa! Check those two out," I said to Jason, nodding towards Karla and Marshal. The couple seemed to have made their way to the center of the dance floor, out of site of the chaperones, and were dancing much too slowly for the song that was playing.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Marshal likes to dance. He's liked Karla for a long time."

"Huh, Karla has never mentioned anything about Marshal until he asked her out."

"I think that's what he likes about her. She's not like the other girls in school," Jason said as he snaked his arm around my waist. "Neither are you." He dropped his face to mine and gave me a soft kiss. Just before my knees were about to give out from the kiss, Jason pulled away.

"Come on, let's go dance."

"Ok, but I'm warning you. The last time I danced was at my cousin's wedding. I'm not very good," I laughed.

"That's ok. Neither am I."

The gym was decorated in the basic paper streamers, in the school colors, draped across the doorway. Several Japanese lanterns, in many different sizes, hung from the ceiling. The DJ booth shot out different colored lights that flashed across the dance floor. It was pretty simple, but looked alright for a high school dance in the gymnasium.

Jason pulled us towards Marshal and Karla and luckily the next song was a slower one. Jason held my hand up to his chest while his other arm wrapped around my waist again. His hand rested just above my right butt cheek. The left part of my body was flushed with his right. This was the first time we had been this close since our make-out session on Sam and Emily's front porch. It was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. I liked it, but something was missing. That spark and connection the Wolf Girls had talked about. But Jason was so sweet and he made me feel good about myself. He would be a perfect boyfriend if not for one thing. Jason wasn't Quil.

I sighed and let my face cuddle into Jason's shoulder. Why couldn't I just enjoy my time with Jason without thinking about Quil?

Jason responded to my cuddling by squeezing me closer and kissing the top of my head. I could hear him humming to the song blaring through the gym.

Although we were right next to Marshal and Karla during the last slow song, they didn't notice we were there until the song ended.

"Oh, hi guys." Karla looked flushed and slightly embarrassed. I smiled knowingly at her. Karla wasn't the type to be slightly embarrassed and flushed. She shrugged in reply and ignored my look.

"Hey," Marshal said when he noticed us there. "Do you guys want to come over after the dance and hang out a little? I don't think we are going to stay here too long." Marshall looked at Karla for confirmation and she nodded in agreement.

"Sure!" Jason said with excitement. "If that's ok with you," he asked me.

"Yeah, that's fine," I replied. I was slightly relieved because I wasn't much for dancing and felt stupid just standing around when we weren't dancing.

"Sweet. I'm going to say something to Kevin and some of the other guys too."

"Aren't your parents home?" Jason asked.

"Nah. Out of town for the weekend," Marshal replied with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Jason looked at me. "Are you sure it's ok with you?" I smiled at his concern, although I wasn't sure what he was concerned about. I'd never really hung out with his friends before, but as long as Karla was there I'd be fine.

"Yeah, I don't have to be home until one o'clock."

Along with my first dance and my first date night alone with Jason, a party would be another first for me.

**A/N: This chapter was kind of filler, but I needed to transition a little and skip through a bunch of days without Quil****. I promise that I'll try to be quicker for the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Marshal lived within walking distance of the school where the dance was being held. We drove the short distance and I noticed there were a lot more people there than I had expected. Karla and Marshal sneaked out of the gym only a few minutes before we did.

I assumed Marshal's party was going to be a few people, but it looked as though several people who didn't attend the dance were already there. Although I was sure to know everyone at the party, because our school was so small, I never hung out with anyone outside of school and I certainly didn't party with any of them. Jason must've noticed my hesitation.

"Hey, don't worry," he chuckled. "I won't leave your side." He gave me a smile that made his dimple show and my face warm up. Although I wasn't deeply in love with him, he could still make me swoon. I gripped Jason's hand as we made our way into the house.

I had never been to a party before but I assumed it would be like the teenage movies I saw. Lots of loud music, people slopping drinks all over the floor, and a mess of a house. I was only half right. The music wasn't so loud and people were drinking, but it was early and no one was sloppy drunk…yet.

"Jay!" Marshal called out to his friend from the kitchen. "Want a beer?" He asked holding up a bottle.

"Sure," Jason called back and then turned to me. "You want one?"

"No, thanks." I didn't want to admit I'd never had alcohol before. For some reason that embarrassed me.

"But _you're_ having one?" I asked Jason. He gave me a look like he didn't understand my question, so I clarified. "You have to drive me home."

Jason gave me his killer smile again. "Don't worry, I'll just have one. I'll be fine by the time I need to take you home."

I nodded, even though I would be monitoring his beer intake.

"Where's Karla?" I asked Marshal.

Marshal looked around the room and shrugged. "Check the bathroom. She said her make-up was pissing her off." He pointed towards the direction of the bathroom.

I giggled because I knew Karla was not a make-up girl. I let go of Jason's hand and made my way towards the bathroom to find Karla. The bathroom door was open slightly so I knocked and pushed my way in.

"Karla?" I said softly. She looked up at me with her soapy face.

"Hey. I couldn't wait to wash this stuff off. I think Katie shellacked it on my face. It's not coming off easily," Karla grumbled. Katie insisted on doing our make-up earlier in the afternoon before she got herself ready for the dance.

"Where is she anyway?" Karla asked while rinsing off her face.

"I'm not sure. I didn't see her or Rob at the dance. We did leave a little early though. Maybe they were running late. Rob was taking her to dinner in PA."

Karla looked at me shyly while she dried off her face. "Sooo…can you cover for me and say I'm staying at your house tonight?"

"What?"

"If my mom asks, or anyone asks, can you say I'm staying at your house?" Karla repeated.

"Ok." I still didn't understand her question, but then it suddenly hit me. Marshal's parents were out of town. "Oh! You're staying here?" I whispered that last part.

"Um, I think so," Karla replied nervously. "I haven't told him yes yet, but he did ask me…at the dance."

"Wow. Yeah, I'll cover for you," I shrugged and leaned against the counter. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure what will happen, but I think I want to spend more time with Marshal. I really like him even though he's not my usual type."

"You have a usual type?" I never knew Karla to have a type. I didn't even know Karla dated.

"Well, no, I guess not, but shit he's a good kisser," Karla giggled. Karla giggled? What the hell was going on?

"You're freaking me out girl."

"Oh shut up," she laughed.

"Just…be careful. Alright?"

"Thanks Mom."

We were interrupted by another knock on the bathroom door. I opened it up enough to see Jason standing there.

"Oh, there you are. Come here, I want to show you something." Jason asked. He looked excited.

"I'll see you in a few," I said to Karla as I let Jason drag me out of the bathroom.

We walked down the short hallway. Jason pulled me into a dark room and shut the door behind us.

"What are we doing? What did you want to show me?" I asked with a laugh and gripped Jason's hand in the dark. The room was black and I couldn't see a thing.

I felt his arms wrap around my waist as he pushed me up against the door.

"Nothing," Jason answered and then his lips touched mine with a small kiss. "I just wanted to be alone with you. Is that ok?" His mouth made a trail of kisses from my mouth, to my ear, and down my neck. I couldn't reply with a coherent word. I just nodded and breathed out a sound, because right then, if he kept doing what he was doing, it was alright by me.

Jason's mouth made the trail back up to my ear as his hands crept up my belly just below my chest. I squeaked a little from the touch and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

He whispered in my ear, "I really like you Claire." His deep whisper made me shudder and my knees went a little weak. Jason took that opportunity to pick me up under the thighs and carry me across the room as my legs wrapped around his waist, trying to hold on. His mouth found mine in the darkness and he started to do that bottom-lip-sucking-thing that I liked so much. Before I knew it I was on top of a bed and Jason was hovering over me with his hips nestled between my legs.

_Whoa. How did that happen?_

Jason's mouth kept kissing and sucking and licking my exposed skin above my dress. He didn't seem to know what his favorite spot was because he didn't stay in one place too long. He started with my mouth, down my neck, kissed the top of my cleavage and then back again. Kissing my neck made me melt while his kisses on my chest, so close to a sensitive spot, made me tense up. My back instantly arched. My breathing became erratic, and my face felt hot, and a couple moans may have slipped out. I was getting too worked up.

Meanwhile, Jason's left arm held his body over top of me while his right hand started to get a little bold. He inched it slowly up my leg until he made his way to the seam of my underwear between my legs. He seemed to be asking me for permission.

With all the sensations being thrown at me at once I really wanted to see what Jason would do next. What he could do to me. I wanted to know what other types of touching felt like, but knew I didn't want to go too far. I knew I wouldn't be happy with myself. I knew if I did, I would feel so guilty about it the next time I faced Quil, ten times guiltier than when I just kissed Jason. I knew I was saving myself for someone else, which was totally stupid! _He _didn't want me like that. But Jason apparently did. I could feel his want pressing on my thigh. I couldn't use Jason like that, although I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind.

"Jason," I gasped for breath as I found his hand under my dress to stop him from going any further. My voice sounded raspy, kind of sexy. Jason noticed too because, even though I had my hand on his trying to stop his actions, he groaned, gasped my name in reply, and slipped one finger inside my underwear, grazing just outside that spot I really needed touched at that moment. The touch made me arch my back and I let out another gaspy "Jason." When I realized saying his name just turned him on more, I went a different route.

It took all the willpower that I could gather inside my totally turned-on body, which wasn't much, to grab onto Jason's hand and push it away from me.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop," I chanted quietly. Jason finally understood and slowly pushed himself off me. His heavy panting fanned across my face. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough to where I saw the look of confusion on his face.

"What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" He didn't look mad, he actually looked hurt. Maybe it was frustration.

I sat myself up and adjusted my dress so I was covered up more. Jason sat up across from me on the bed and in the dark I could see that he adjusted himself as well.

"No, you did nothing wrong…_nothing_," I smiled at him, a little embarrassed for admitting that to him. "It's just…I'm not ready for this. This is only our second date and you're my first…person I've dated…" I didn't want to say the word boyfriend because we've never called each other that. "I really like you. I'm sorry."

"Oh," Jason looked deflated. "Can I just kiss you?" He moved forward towards me, but I stopped him.

"No," I laughed. Jason let out a pathetic whine. "That is what started all this in the first place. We should probably get back out there."

"Are you sure? You seemed to be enjoying it," Jason teased as his hand slipped up my thigh again.

I blushed because Jason obviously felt how much I had enjoyed everything, but I grabbed his wrist to stop his hand from moving back to it's destination between my legs. "Yeah, I'm sure."

There was a knock at the bedroom door and then the door opened up. It was Karla. I squinted towards the sudden light in the room.

"Claire, um, Quil is here. He said he needs you right now," She said apologetically. "He told me to find you and drag you out if I had to."

_Quil is here? Are you friggin' kidding me?_

"That's it! If he thinks he can follow me wherever I go…" I trailed off and stomped my way through the house. I could feel my face get hot from the emotions running through me. I was embarrassed that Quil followed me again and I was angry he didn't just leave me alone and let me get on with my life.

I heard Jason following behind me. I tried to casually walk through the crowd of people as to not make a scene, but I don't think it worked. Several people stopped their conversations as I walked by. The anger on my face must have been obvious. I can imagine what it must have looked like for Jason. I quickly reached behind me and grabbed Jason's hand so that it didn't look as though I had a problem with him. Jason's hand squeezed mine in return.

I found Quil pacing next to his car, waiting for me to come to him.

"What the hell is your problem?" I growled through my teeth. I wanted to scream at him, but I didn't want to make a scene. I could see Quil glance down to my hand gripping Jason's.

"Claire, you need…" Quil started to say something, but I cut him off.

"If you think you can follow me around and come to my rescue…" I snorted.

"Rescue? Claire-Bear, it's not like that…"

"I handled myself pretty well in there if I do say so myself…whoa! Put me down!"

Quil, apparently too impatient with my scolding, scooped me up over his shoulder in the fireman carry, effectively detaching my hand from Jason's, and carried me towards his car. I heard Jason mutter an annoyed "hey man" to Quil.

"Sorry Jason," Quil called towards the front of the house where Jason and Karla stood watching the scene. I kicked and yelled trying to get Quil to set me down. "Claire is needed at home. Karla, can you fill him in please?"

I didn't hear Karla's answer because I continued to scream and try to squirm out of Quil's arms, knowing it was useless in his iron grip, until he plopped me down in the passenger's seat of his car. I watched him circle around the car to the driver's side and I could feel the angry tears burning behind my eyelids.

"Put your seatbelt on," Quil demanded once he climbed in and started the car.

"What are you doing? You can't just scoop me out of a situation that you don't think is appropriate."

"Claire, shut your mouth for a minute and put your damn seatbelt on!" Quil growled.

I flinched from his tone and immediately put my seatbelt on.

"What's wrong?" I whispered. Quil never swore at me so something serious must have happened.

Quil grabbed my hand and I clung to it tightly. My anger with him was instantly gone. I hadn't seen Quil in so long and now that I had him, I didn't want to let him go.

I could see the sorrow in Quil's face. The look he gets before he tells me something bad.

"There's been an accident. Katie and Rob were in a car accident."

**_A/N: Sorry for the delay. I'll try to get the next chapter update quickly. Please leave me a note and tell me what you think. Things will start picking up from here, I promise! _**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So sorry for the delay! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Stephenie's wolves.**

Rob's car was blindsided by another car that ran a red light. They were on their way to the dance after eating dinner. Katie received most of the damage since the other car smashed into the passenger side of Rob's car. Rob only had a cut above his eye and received fourteen stitches.

Katie looked so broken and pathetic. Her small, thin body was covered up with blankets, but the exposed skin showed the beating she received in the crash. Her right cheek and eye were bruised from being crushed, her right arm was in a cast because it was broken at the wrist, and her right knee was in a sling because it was sprained. Even though I knew she would be ok, it was hard not to tear up from the sight. A thousand memories of Katie and me flashed through my mind.

My mom said that Katie's body went into shock from the pain and she passed out. Rob thought she was dead. There was a lot of blood, but it was mostly his own blood from the gash on his eyebrow. Head wounds are gruesome like that. It sounds like Rob totally freaked out and had to be sedated when the EMT showed up. After fixing Katie up and placing her in a room Rob refused to leave her side. That's where I found him, clutching Katie's unbroken hand with dried-up tear stains on his face.

"Hey," I said and sat down next to Rob. He was staring at Katie with a blank look on his face. He didn't reply. I placed my hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him.

"You know she's going to be ok, right?" I said softly.

"I thought she was dead," Rob whispered, not looking away from Katie.

"But she's not. We're just waiting for her to wake up. She's on a lot of pain relievers."

"Yeah, the doctor said she's in too much pain to wake up right now." There was a quiver in Rob's voice. "It's my fault," he squeaked out.

"No," I said sternly, "It's the asshole that ran the red light. If anything you saved her by acting smart and calling for help so quickly."

"Smart," Rob scoffed. "I freaked out."

"You're her hero."

"She's going to hate me when she wakes up."

"No, she's not. She really likes you, you know." I finally got Rob's attention. He looked at me like he wasn't sure he believed me.

"She does?" He asked with a small smile. I could see his hand grip Katie's hand tighter.

"You know she does. She wouldn't be hanging out with you for this long if she didn't. She's going to be glad to see you here when she wakes up. She's probably worried about you too."

Rob nodded and gave Katie his full attention again. I patted him on the shoulder and giggled a little. It was funny consoling an eighteen year old man when it was _my_ sister who was lying all broken in a hospital bed. But that's what Quil was for. He was my comfort. So I went to seek him out.

I found Quil, my mom, and Aunt Emily sitting in the waiting area, down the hall from Katie's room. Their conversation halted when I walked in the room.

"Is she awake?" My mom asked. She looked really tired and I could tell all the worrying was draining her energy. I knew she would be sleeping very much until Katie was awake.

"Not yet, but I'm sure Rob will let you know the minute she does," I said with a smile.

"He's so sweet," Mom smiled back.

"Quil do you mind taking me home so I can shower and change?" I said, sweeping my hand over my body. I still had my dress on and all the make up Katie put on me hours ago.

Quil nodded and in a fluid movement lifted himself off the chair that was too small for him. After not seeing him for a few days I seemed to have forgotten how graceful he was. I may have stared as he walked towards me.

"Honey, why don't you just stay home and rest? You've had a long day." My mom suggested. When I gave her a look like I wanted to object she continued. "Katie will be fine, she's just sleeping. Go get some rest. I'm going to stay here. And I'm sure Rob will stay too."

"Quil will stay with you," Emily added with a small grin. I saw Quil's head snap in her direction and he gave her a narrow-eyed look.

_Great. He's still mad at me._

Before I could tell Quil it wasn't necessary, he grabbed my hand and said "Let's go." I gave my mom and Aunt Emily a small wave and let Quil drag me out of the hospital.

The car ride home was brutal. Quil was very quiet and I had all sorts of questions for him, but I was too tired to ask any. There was only one thing I wanted to say and I needed to say it before Quil left me for another few days.

"I miss you."

Quil let out a long sigh, grabbed my hand, and kissed my knuckles. "I miss you too."

"No, Jason. It's ok. I'll be fine," I said into the phone. I made sure to call Jason as soon as I got home to let him know what had happened. It sounded like Karla told him most of it. Quil had informed Karla before he had her retrieve me from the bedroom at Marshal's house.

Quil and I were in my kitchen. As usual, Quil rummaged through the fridge.

"_Are you sure? You don't want to be alone in the house all night, do you?"_ Jason asked on the other end of the phone line. I glanced over to Quil and caught him in mid-eye-roll. He could easily hear Jason through the phone. Damn wolf ears.

I looked at Quil when I answered Jason. "Yeah, I'm sure. And I won't be alone. Quil's here too," I replied. The other end of the phone line was quiet. There was a slight, smug smile on Quil's face.

I heard Jason take in air and let out a long sigh. "Yeah, ok. See ya." And then he hung up.

"Great," I groaned. Quil's smug smile got bigger.

"Shut up." I scolded. "Now he's pissed."

"'Bout what?" Quil asked between bites of cold pizza.

"Probably because you're here and not him," I answered honestly.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No," I said quickly.

Quil only shrugged in response. I decided to let it drop. I didn't feel like getting into a Jason conversation with Quil again. And I didn't want him to ask what was going on with Jason and me in the bedroom at Marshal's house.

"Oh shoot, Karla!" I picked up my phone and called Karla to let her know Rob and Katie were going to be fine. After talking to Karla, it seemed it would've been too complicated to continue with the lie telling her mom she was spending the night at my house when she was actually staying at Marshal's house. Karla's parents quickly found out what happened to Katie. Karla ended up going home soon after I left the party.

"Karla went to the dance with Marshal?" Quil asked after I hung up. He obviously overheard my conversation with Karla.

"Yeah."

"She was going to spend the night with him?" Quil asked with a disapproving look.

"She wasn't sure," I replied. I didn't want to talk about it with Quil. It felt like I was betraying Karla's trust.

"Were you planning on spending the night?" Quil asked quietly.

I let out a sigh and felt my body deflate. I was tired and didn't feel like getting into it with Quil over Jason and what I may or may have not done.

"No," I replied quietly, "I wasn't."

I started walking towards my room and I could feel Quil following me. He didn't make a sound, but I could feel his body heat and the sensation his body being near made me feel.

I started to reach behind me to get a hold of the zipper on my dress. I couldn't quite reach it and started to flail my arms to find the perfect angle.

Quil snickered behind me at my antics.

"Will you help me please?" I glanced behind me and asked with a small smile. His laugh always made me smile.

When my eyes found his, the humor dropped from his face. He nodded slightly in reply and I could see his Adams apple bob up and down when he swallowed.

I made it to my bedroom, walked just inside the door and stopped. I lifted my hair up to get it out of the way of the zipper, letting Quil know he could get the zipper started for me. I knew he was near me. His warmth radiated off of him onto my back. The urge to lean back into him was so strong, but I stood in my place waiting for him to work the zipper.

Quil cleared his throat. I felt his large fingers grab the zipper as his other hand held the fabric of the dress taut. My heart did that embarrassing thing again where it accelerates whenever Quil is near. It seemed to pump double-time because he was kind of undressing me. I knew he could hear my body's reaction to him.

As he dragged the zipper down my spine Quil's fingers lightly grazed my skin. The touch left a burning feeling in its wake. Goosebumps popped up all over my body and a subtle shiver ran down my back. He pulled the zipper the entire way down until it stopped. I wasn't wearing a bra, which was obvious to him at this point and I'm sure he noticed the top of my underwear peeking out from beneath the dress. I wasn't sure if he knew that he only needed to start the zipper for me, or if he purposely unzipped the entire length. He lingered behind me not moving his hands. I swallowed hard and tried not to make any noise. I didn't want to do or say anything that would make Quil stop whatever he was doing or make him walk away from me.

It seemed Quil wanted to experiment a little because he ran his finger lightly down my spine again. Just like the first time I involuntarily shivered from the touch and I felt my skin tighten up.

What happened next totally surprised me.

Quil stepped close enough to me that I felt his knee brush up against my butt. His body heat spread out against my bare back. Both of his hands gently grabbed me. Quil's thumbs were on either side of my spine as his palms and fingers wrapped around towards the front of my body towards my chest. This time I couldn't keep back the noise that escaped me.

"Quil," I sighed.

When I said his name he stepped even closer and I could feel his breath hot on my neck. His hands move slightly closer to my breast. I wanted him to touch me there so badly. I continued to stand still so that I didn't scare him away. All the things I would have felt guilty doing with Jason earlier in the night was everything I wanted to do with Quil.

Quil suddenly stopped and I felt his head fall to my shoulder.

"You smell like him," Quil whispered. He let his hands drop from my sides and quickly stepped away. His body heat instantly gone. I knew he left the room.

I stood there quietly for a moment, staring into space, and tried to register everything that had happened. Quil wanted me. That much was clear. The way he touched me! For a moment I was elated. In a way he revealed his feelings towards me.

But then he rejected me again. He rejected me because of my antics earlier in the evening. Once again I felt guilty. It was like I got caught cheating on Quil. Jason's scent was all over me. His dried up saliva was probably all over the side of my neck Quil practically nuzzled against.

_Damn it!_

I quickly stripped off my dress, grabbed my robe and threw it on, and ran across the hallway to the bathroom. I scrubbed my body in the shower with my favorite body wash, concentrating on all the places Jason touched me. I washed it all away. I knew I never wanted it again. I couldn't be with Jason anymore. After the short encounter with Quil, I knew his touches were the only ones I wanted. The way he made me feel was something I could get addicted to. He touched me before in innocent ways, but it was nothing like that. It had never been like that. It was like his feelings for me seeped through his skin into mine. I knew he wanted me like I wanted him because his body told me so.

I decided while I washed Jason's scent away I was determined to feel Quil's touch again. I was too tired to push anything tonight, but I had to get back to Quil quickly while what just happened was still fresh in his mind. I didn't want him to talk himself into thinking it was a bad idea.

As I walked into the living room, I knew I was too late. Quil sat on the couch with his head in his hands. He was rubbing his face and he looked angry. I assumed he was angry with me. He heard me approach and looked up at me. The anger melted from his face and was replaced with a look of shame. I braced myself for total rejection.

"That was…um…ahhh," Quil groaned into his hands, not finishing his sentence, and went back to rubbing his face and hair. I was expecting an apology, but it didn't come. I smiled in relief because I didn't want to hear it. He looked over at me for a response. I'm not sure what he expected to see, but when he saw my smile he smiled back in relief. It had been such a long time since I had seen that smile.

I needed to keep Quil with me and I didn't want him to walk out like he did every time we started talking about the stress between us. I wanted to continue to see him smile. There were more serious things going on that I wanted to focus on.

"I'm tired. I want to get to the hospital as soon as we can in the morning. Let's just forget about it right now. Come on." I said holding out my hand towards him, expecting him to take it and follow me. He looked at my hand, but didn't reach for it.

"Are you sure you want me to stay after…"

"Quil," I interrupted with a whine. "I don't want to talk about it now. Later for sure," I said with a pointed look. "Will you just stay in my room? I haven't seen you in forever." As I said that last part I fisted my hand over my chest, silently indicating my need to be near him and feel that familiar sensation. I think he got the point because he made the same gesture and grabbed my hand.

Quil being in my bed was not unusual. He often fell asleep there and ended up staying the entire night. My mom didn't care. She knew nothing funny was going on because we weren't like that. I wonder what my mom would think now after the almost-groping incident.

When I was little and had night terrors, Quil was the only person who could calm me down when I woke up screaming. When he slept in my room I never had a bad dream.

This was different. Quil and I were both under the blankets. He had never needed blankets because of his body heat. Quil always slept on his side. He was facing me, so I turned around and backed myself into the curve of his body into the spooning position. Quil's body stilled for a moment, but when I didn't make another move, I could feel him give in and mold his body around me. He slid his arm around my waist and under my arm and brought his legs up under mine. Since he was so much taller than me it wasn't a perfect fit, but was perfect enough.

I felt Quil kiss the top of my head, sniff my hair, and hum before I fell asleep. I wasn't sure how long Quil's closeness would last, but I was going to take as much as I could get.

"Hey Quil?" I whispered in the dark.

"Mmm-huh," he replied.

"I don't want to go that long without seeing you again. Ok?"

"Ok," he replied and squeezed me a little tighter.

I'm sure I had a permanent grin on my face the entire night.

**A/N: No one is dead…you can all relax now!**

**This is chapter 14. I've only have up to chapter 16 finished because I have major writer's block. My friends are helping me through it though. I guess I haven't been excited to post new chapters because I don't want to get you all caught up and then just stop. I PROMISE I will finish this story!**

**Welcome new readers! I'm so happy to hear from newbies who review my stories…and of course my faithful followers too.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a little Claire and Quil love for you!**

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**Chapter 15

My body was so too hot. I could feel a thin layer of sweat on my back and my mouth was dry. Once I finally woke out of my sleep haze I remembered why I was so warm. Quil's one hundred and nine degrees body was right behind me. I must have slept in the same position all night. It was evident Quil hadn't moved either because his body heat was baking me.

I flung the covers off of us. Sleeping with Quil under the blankets was like sleeping in a sauna. If Quil kept sleeping with me, I'd have to get a box fan for my window.

_Hmmm…Quil sleeping with me. _Although it was too warm, I could deal with the heat; make some adjustments, if it meant he would sleep with me more often. A part of me was surprised he was still in my bed. That same part of me thought he would have fled because of what happened between us the night before.

I slowly lifted Quil's arm so I could easily roll my body to face his. Quil was still sleeping. I took advantage of that and leveled my face to his and let my eyes wander. It had been days since I really looked at him. Because of the tension between us lately I didn't want him to catch me staring. He seemed uncomfortable when I looked at him for too long.

Quil's face looked so peaceful while he slept. He looked so much younger. Those worry lines he seemed to wear lately were smoothed out and relaxed. My eyes drifted down his neck and his shoulders towards his chest. He was shirtless in only his cargo shorts; his usual attire. His hip bone stuck out of his shorts and there was a dip of a shadow that followed his lower abdomen under the material. I could barely see his belly button because his arm was in the way. His belly button was my favorite part. It was a perfect "o" and I wouldn't consider it an 'inny' or an 'outey,' it was just there; kind of flat.

I wanted to reach out and touch Quil. To trace my fingers over his muscles and check him out like I haven't ever before. For a moment I thought about waking him up by kissing my favorite part, but that favorite part is too close to other possible favorite parts of Quil and I'm pretty sure I would scare him away quickly by doing that.

"Good morning," Quil's husky voice alerted me he was awake.

It startled me and my eyes flashed up to his face and then back down to my hand, trying not to stare again. It was obvious he could hear my heart pounding from surprise and the embarrassment from getting caught ogling his bare chest.

"Good morning," I said softly and peeked up at him through my eyelashes.

Quil's hand rested on my hip and he leaned forward to kiss my forehead. I could hear him inhale (_was he smelling me?_) and let out a long sigh the way he does when he's trying to control his wolf from escaping his body. That doesn't happen very often and I wasn't afraid of it happening at that moment, but I know the routine. He was controlling himself for some reason.

I looked up at him again and he had his eyes closed, still inhaling and exhaling at a steady pace.

"We should get around and get up to the hospital," Quil finally said. He still had his husky sleep-voice.

"Oh yeah!" _Oh my God I'm such a bad sister._ Here, I want to jump Quil in my bed while my sister is hurt in the hospital.

Still embarrassed from my actions, I quickly tried to worm my out of bed. With my feet tangled in the blankets, I fell to the floor with a thud, dragging the blankets and a pillow with me.

"Ugh."

"Claire!" Quil looked down at me on the floor. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," I replied and started to push myself up. My embarrassment level increased a couple notches.

I heard Quil snort and he immediately stopped and tried to cover up his amusement when I glared at him.

"Don't laugh at me," I said and threw my pillow at him, trying to cover up my own laugh. Quil swiftly deflected the pillow.

"I'm not," he said while biting the inside of his cheek.

"I gotta pee," I grumbled. I struggled to unwrap my feet from the blankets that fell on the floor with me and finally made my way towards the bathroom. When I made it to the hall Quil's laughter erupted.

"I hate you!" I half yelled and half giggled from the bathroom before I shut the door, which made Quil laugh even harder.

Katie was still asleep when we arrived at the hospital. She hadn't woken up during the night either. The doctors expected her to soon. My mom stayed the whole night and slept on a cot in her room. At one point during the night they made Rob leave Katie's room because he wasn't family, but he stayed the entire night. He hadn't even been home yet, even when his mom and dad tried to coax him into going home to sleep in his own bed. He slept in the waiting room.

Quil and I were the only two people in the small waiting room. It was located at the end of the hall and kind of private. Rob left us alone to find something to eat and then take his watch next to Katie's side.

I sat cuddled up next to Quil on the two-seater couch in the room. The television was on some random channel, but I wasn't watching it. The last few weeks ran through my mind and I thought of how Quil and my relationship seemed to have changed. Some of the changes I didn't like; the tension and the lack of time we spent together. Some of the changes I did. After the way Quil touched me the night before and the look in his face, I decided all that anger I saw from him regarding Jason must have been jealousy.

Maybe Quil's thoughts were similar to mine. We shouldn't be together because of our age difference. He was thirteen years older than me. If I were an adult, that wouldn't be a problem, but I'm barely seventeen. Maybe that whole story about protecting me until I was seventeen was a bullshit story and he really was going to make his move then. Maybe seventeen to him meant I would be more mature?

Then I thought of the Wolf Girls and their description of their relationships. Almost everything they described, I felt it too with Quil. Not Jason…Quil. I had a choice to make and it was obvious.

Poor Jason. I sighed, which made Quil give me a squeeze. I knew I had to break it off with Jason and it was going to suck because I wasn't sure how to explain my reasoning. I had never broken up with anyone before. Would it even be considered breaking up if we really hadn't declared ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend yet?

It didn't matter if Quil wanted me or not. If I'm not supposed to be with Quil and I felt the way I did towards him, then I _know_ Jason isn't the one. Although Jason was the one who was there and showing me the attention I felt I needed, Jason didn't give me that feeling through my body that Quil did. But Jason was so nice. He would be a good boyfriend if he wasn't moving so fast. When I was with Jason it was fun and fresh and new. Being with Quil, even though we weren't a couple, I felt part of something special. Quil was who I wanted and I knew I needed to tell him that.

"Hey Quil." I was so nervous I felt nauseous. I talked to him while looking down at my lap.

"Yeah?" He kissed my temple and squeezed my shoulder again.

"Did you feel it too?"

It took a couple seconds before Quil answered, but I knew he knew what I meant. "Feel what?"

"Um…last night. When you…you know." Just thinking about it gave me goosebumps. "That feeling… I can't explain it."

"Try," he said into my hair and then kissed my head again. His innocent kisses messed with my thoughts.

"Don't laugh at me ok?"

Quil let out a soft chuckle. "I'm not going to laugh."

I decided I was going to be brave and face the consequences of my actions. I was confident enough in our relationship that I knew I would at least have Quil as a friend no matter what his reply would be, although his rejection would be embarrassing as hell. It may be awkward for awhile, but we would get back to how we used to be eventually. But at least he would know. I spilled my guts as I continued to look down at my hands.

"I love you," my voice quivered, "and it's more than just friendship and I'm pretty sure it's more than a stupid teenage crush. At first I thought it was natural because I have known you forever and I see you every day and I would grow out of it. But when I'm near you my chest flutters and when you touch me it feels like I'm being electrocuted, but in a good way. Especially last night when you touched me the way you did. I felt like you…like you _wanted_ me. It was like I could pick up your senses or something. I know…I'm probably crazy for thinking that way." I could feel my face burn up after I said that, but I continued on.

"When you're not around I miss you. And it's not like when I miss my mom or my dad. When I don't see you for more than a day my chest aches and I can't think about anything but you. I don't feel like that with anyone else.

"But I decided to try and ignore it because it was a long shot that you would feel that way towards me. Then Jason came along and he was cute and nice and he asked me out. I thought it would be a good idea to distract myself and try to forget about my feelings for you and go out with someone my own age, you know? Then when I kissed him it was nice, but I kept wondering what it would be like to kiss you. Stupid hormones. I kept comparing him to you. Not the kissing part, but in general."

I stopped and sighed when I realized I had been rambling. I probably didn't make any sense, but I continued.

"I know this probably doesn't make any sense to you because it barely makes sense to me. And I know it's a long shot that you feel the same way about me. If you don't, I will understand. I'm just a kid and maybe all this will blow over, but I had to tell you so you knew. I don't want to screw up anything between us so if you don't feel the same way, then I'll be cool with it. I'll get over it." I finished my speech and let out a big sigh. I felt better. Throughout my entire speech Quil gently rubbed my arm and it didn't falter once.

"And I'm calling it off with Jason," I felt the need to add.

It felt like an eternity before Quil made any type of response. His breathing seemed steady and if it wasn't for his hand continuing its path up and down my arm I would have thought he had fallen asleep.

"It makes perfect sense," he finally said. I didn't know what type of reaction that was so I just softly nodded and stayed quiet waiting for anything else he had to offer. I had talked enough.

"And…you're not crazy for thinking that I _wanted_ you. I did." Quil said softly.

_Did I hear that correctly?_ He said he _did_. Did he still? My heartbeat sped up, but I kept quiet waiting for him to continue.

"You were in that dress and you looked so beautiful. And then I was basically undressing you," he said quietly. "I just wanted to…" he trailed off with a hint of disgust. I didn't want to look up at his face because I thought seeing his rejection and hearing it together would be too much.

"I've wanted you like that for a while now," Quil said with more confidence. My heart was beating so hard I thought my chest would burst open. "I've just been…scared." He let out a huge sigh.

At this point I did look up at him. My eyes were wide as I asked my question. "Scared of what?"

Quil looked at me without any facial expression and answered, "You." Then a tiny smirk played at the corner of his mouth. "But now I know how you feel."

My body totally loosened up and a massive smile felt like it tore my face in two. _Thank God, Quil loved me too!_ I cuddled back into Quil's side and relaxed. Quil's strong arms held me tight. I felt so comfortable in his embrace because it felt familiar and right. And I missed it so much. There was the usual warm, buzzing feeling between the two of us and the innocent hug slowly turned into something more. I squeezed Quil tighter silently asking him not to let me go. I was enjoying this too much. Quil responded by gripping me tighter and moving his arms slowly up and down my back. I heard a small growl come from his chest, but it wasn't his natural wolf-type of growl. It was the normal human growl I've heard from Jason a couple of times when he's been turned on and he wanted more from me.

Jason's growl made me nervous because being with him like that didn't feel quite right, where Quil's growl made me shiver with excitement. I wasn't sure if Quil's reaction was the same as Jason's, but I felt the need to find out.

Quil was suddenly breathing quick and shallow, which made my breathing pick up a little too. I slipped one of my hands up his neck and into his hair and used my other arm to lift myself so that my head was level with his. Instead of meeting my face Quil buried his face into my neck. I could feel him inhale behind my ear and another shiver ran down my spine.

"Quil," I whispered. My voice was a little shaky in his ear. I was trying to be brave and I was determined to get Quil's to confirm his true feelings.

Quil brought his head up from the curve of my neck and looked at me from only inches away. His face was flush and he continued to pant softly. His eyes were dark as he stared at me and waited to hear what I had to say. I looked down at his mouth and went in for the kiss. Quil's hands swiftly, but gently, held my face and prevented our lips from connecting. It startled me and I know he saw the hurt in my eyes.

"Claire, I…" he started, but I cut him off. I didn't want to hear it anymore. But I wanted to kiss him dammit! I wanted to know if Quil and I had all the same feelings the Wolf Girls had with their wolves. So far we did, but I had to try the kissing part.

"I need to know Quil," I interrupted. Either he knew what that meant or he was tired of fighting me, but I felt his hands loosen up around my face and slowly slide down to my shoulders. He knew what I wanted and he was going to let me kiss him. Suddenly I was nervous.

Determined, I closed the inch between us and pressed my mouth to his. Just as I imagined, his lips were so soft and so warm and the electric connection between us stimulated the kiss even more. At first Quil didn't move. His lips stayed still but soon we both sighed from the sensation and he was kissing me back!

This should've been my first kiss! Not the awkward, sticky kiss with Jason. Even if Quil never kissed me again my lips were completely ruined for anyone else.

Our mouths started out moving slowly while the rest of our bodies stood still. We were being careful, of what I'm not sure. It was nice, but I wanted more. My hands gripped his hair as I pressed my mouth harder to his. I felt his arms around my waist tighten while a sigh exhaled out of his nose. I darted my tongue against his bottom lip and looked him in the eyes, our lips still attached. I watched his eyes flash open and they were still very dark. He looked the same as he did when he was trying to control his wolf from bursting out. He looked a little scared too.

"I love _you_ Quil," I pulled away quickly and whispered. I wanted to remind him that he was the only one for me. I didn't love Jason and never really did.

Quil's eyes stared at me, darting across my face as if he were looking for something hidden. He kissed me again, but wouldn't let me into his mouth. I licked his lip again and tugged a little more on his hair with my fingers. The growl returned and Quil took over our innocent kissing session, turning it into something not so innocent. He opened his mouth wider letting my tongue in and slid his along mine. At the same time he repositioned me in his lap so that I was straddling him. I let out a little squeak, surprised, but pleased with the turn of events.

Crazy emotions were running through me. I was thrilled to finally be kissing the man I was completely in love with. For him to hold me and touch me this way was indescribable. It seemed right and familiar and like that piece of our relationship that seemed to be missing was finally put in place.

With the connection of energy between us, the sheen of sweat we both had, and Quil's manly woodsy smell I was tremendously turned on. He tasted good, he felt good and the sounds he made spun me out of control. I'm pretty sure I would allow Quil to do anything he wanted to do with me at that moment…not that he would and I knew that he wouldn't. We were in a hospital waiting room, for crying out loud. I knew it was a matter of time before he'd put on the brakes.

But mostly, I was scared because, as I saw it, our relationship had changed. I really hoped it changed in a good way, but I kept seeing that doubtful look in Quil's eyes. He couldn't deny it anymore. I told him that I loved him and he knew it was more than just friendship and he admitted the same thing. From the way he was handling me I knew he loved me too. If he didn't stop seeing me as a little girl, this whole make-out session was going to be awkward when it ended.

Unfortunately, it did end. The voices in the hallway announced someone was about to enter the private waiting room. I quickly removed myself from Quil's lap and sat next to him, cuddling into his side. Now that we stopped kissing I wasn't sure what his reaction would be. Thankfully, he put his arm around my shoulder and I released the tension in my shoulders I wasn't aware I was holding.

I heard someone enter, but I had my eyes closed, too focused on the beautiful man beside me. It wasn't until I felt Quil's body stiffen beside me that I opened my eyes to look towards the door.

"Dad!" I jumped up and ran towards Jack for a hug. I spoke with him on the phone more than I saw him during the year, but he was still my dad and I loved him. I liked spending time with him and I was thrilled he was here now when things were so crazy.

"Hey sweetie," Dad replied sadly and squeezed me back. "You're mom called me. Are you alright?"

I nodded in reply and squeezed him tighter.

"I see you're still hanging around," I didn't see his face, but I knew he was talking to Quil. For some reason my dad wasn't too fond of Quil. That was the only thing Jack and I got into arguments about.

"Dad," I said with warning.

"He doesn't need to be here, I'm here now." Dad said, keeping his glare on Quil. Quil's face stayed neutral.

"He's always here. I need him here," I replied. I could see from Dad's face that he received the subtle jab, but it was true. I wasn't going to get through this craziness without Quil. I did need him.

"Him hanging around isn't appropriate. He's not family," Dad said through his teeth.

Quil stood up from the couch and started walking towards us to leave. I grabbed his hand asking him to stay. Unfortunately, I was still hugging my dad and the two men came face to face. My dad isn't very tall, so it was more like his face to Quil's neck. I pulled away from my dad, but still held Quil's hand.

"He's my family dad and my best friend. I want him here because he makes me feel better," I said quietly.

"I'm not leaving unless Claire wants me to," Quil finally spoke up. I could tell it was taking a lot of effort not to lose his cool.

"May I have a word with you outside, _Quil?_" Dad said his name like it was a curse word.

"Dad, please stop!" I begged and started to follow the two men.

"You stay here," Dad ordered, but I wasn't going to listen until I saw Quil look at me and nod in agreement. They both left quickly before I could protest.

I flopped on the chair next to the door exhausted. To this day I don't know why my dad hated Quil so much. For as long as I can remember he's never received Quil's presence very well. The rare occasion Jack was around he would either grumble about Quil or ignore him completely. Quil tried to avoid him as much as he could when Dad was in town.

But why was Jack being so overly upset? Did he witness what happened in the waiting room only moments before he walked in? I doubted that because Quil would've heard him and stopped our kissing earlier than he did. Maybe Dad was on edge because his oldest daughter was lying in a hospital bed.

Well I wasn't going to let Dad ream Quil out because he was upset over Katie's situation. I got up off the chair, stormed through the hallway towards the outside of the hospital. I could hear shouting on the other side of the thick doors and peaked out the window. Quil and Dad were both close enough to the door that I could hear their words without opening it.

"Keep your hands off my little girl," Jack raged. Oh great, he _did_ see Quil and me kissing. "You have ruined this family enough!" _Wait, what? Quil ruined the family?_

"She's mine and how can you call her your little girl when you left her…you left all of them. I didn't ruin anything," Quil's voice was just as angry, but I was more focused on his words. He said "she's mine." I didn't know whether to feel excited about that or annoyed that they were fighting over me like I was a possession.

"It's sick and you know it!" Jack seethed. I could almost hear the spittle come out of his mouth.

"You know it wasn't like that!" Quil said it like he's made that argument several times before. He sounded exhausted.

I had enough of their bickering so I stormed through the door to stop it.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded from the two of them.

"Oh, you haven't told her yet?" Dad replied. He looked at Quil and seemed amused.

"Jack, please!" Quil said under his breath.

"Told me what?" I asked.

"Well honey, apparently you have an arranged marriage with this monster." Dad ignored Quil's begging look and addressed me now.

I didn't understand. _Arranged marriage? _"Quil?" I said, asking him to explain. Quil's eyes looked deadly as he glared at my father. When they snapped to my attention, they turned back to the caring eyes that I knew and loved.

"Let's talk about this later…in private," Quil said to me in a soft voice.

"You were _his_ since you were two." Jack continued, not paying any attention to Quil.

"Jack!" Quil growled through his clenched teeth.

I always knew he was my Quil, but was I his Claire too? Quil already told me about the protection thing, but why would my father be upset about that? It must have been something else. I looked between the two of them with what I know was confusion on my face. My eyes finally settled on Quil. He wasn't denying anything my father was saying. I shook my head in confusion and before anyone could say anything else, my mom interrupted us.

"Katie's awake," she said with a relieved smile on her face and she was breathing hard. She must've been running around the hospital floor trying to find us. She was oblivious to the crazy scene in front of her. I could tell she had been crying, but with happier tears this time.

The conversation was forgotten and my Dad rushed past me with my mom towards Katie's hospital room. I started walking that way too, but noticed Quil wasn't moving. I held out my hand towards him, silently asking him to come with me. I could see his body relax with relief. Did he think I was mad at him? Once our hands connected the familiar surge ran through my body and I smiled.

**A/N: Our Claire-Bear got brave! wooo-hooo!**

**Thanks for all the reviews. I will try to reply, but I've been crazy busy. I'm on vacation for the next two weeks. hang in there! I'll try to update when I can. Thanks so much for reading this story and welcome to all my newbie readers/reviewers! I love you all. xoxoxo**


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm sitting in a hotel in Tennessee on my way to Florida. I thought I would sneak in a chapter.**

**Disclaimer: The wolves are not mine, but a girl can dream...**

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Chapter 16.

If there was any doubt in Rob's mind that Katie was totally infatuated with him, well then, Rob's a big doofus. The way Katie looked at him gave all her feelings away. She wasn't acting coy and trying to hide a thing like she usually did. Her bruised and swollen face was lit up with a huge smile and her eyes twinkled while she held Rob's face with her uninjured hand. They were talking in whispers and laughing. I thought I saw a tear slide down Rob's cheek.

The scene was too sweet and intimate to interrupt. Instead, the four of us; Mom, Dad, Quil, and I, stood in the hall and spied in on the couple. The tension between my dad and Quil was still there, but Katie and her well being was Dad's main focus at this point.

"Who's that?" Dad asked with a grunt.

"That's her boyfriend, Rob," Mom answered.

"The boy driving the car?" He grumbled. His attitude sounded like he was going to go in there and give Rob a piece of his mind.

"Jack, just give them a minute" Mom replied in her scolding tone. "I told you it wasn't his fault. The other car ran a red light."

Dad just grunted. I looked at Quil and we both rolled our eyes. We both knew how overprotective my Dad could be; way worse than Quil. I was secretly glad Quil wasn't the only person Dad would antagonize. Poor Rob. I'm not sure if that sensitive guy could handle my dad.

After a moment we decided to sneak in and interrupt the love-fest going on in the hospital room. We all took turns giving Katie hugs and kisses. Katie was surprised and excited to see Dad there. Jack rarely made appearances, not even for birthdays or major holidays.

It seems Katie didn't even really remember what happened during the accident. When the doctor came in after he heard she was awake, Katie told him that she remembered going to dinner and seeing headlights heading straight for her. She says she doesn't remember what happened after that, but she glanced warily towards Rob when she made that statement, which made me think Katie remembered some of the gruesome details. I don't think she wanted to upset Rob by recounting that awful scene.

It was later in the afternoon when someone from the kitchen staff brought in a tray of food for Katie. Although the food didn't look or smell too appealing to me, it did remind my stomach it hadn't had anything since breakfast. It growled and I looked up at Quil with a quirk of my eyebrow asking if he was ready to go. He gave me a small nod answering my silent question. We understood each other that well and I'm pretty sure he heard my stomach. I could tell he was anxious to be alone with me because he knew I would pounce on him with several questions about the conversation between him and my dad. I also wondered if he thought I would pounce on him literally after getting a little taste of how Quil could make me feel during our make out session in the waiting room. I wanted more, but I wasn't sure if Quil was going to allow it.

"We're going to head out," I blurted out once there was a lull in the conversation. "Katie looks like she needs a break and I'm starving." I stood up and stretched. I looked at Katie and asked, "Is there anything you want me to bring in from home?"

Katie had a small list, since she would have to stay in the hospital for a few more days to make sure all her injuries were healing the way they were supposed to.

"Hey Rob, do you need a ride home?" Quil asked quickly. Yep, he was definitely anxious to have our imminent conversation. There was no way I wanted to have a discussion in the car in front of Rob.

"Oh, I don't know…" Rob started to say, but Katie wouldn't let him finish.

"Rob, you need to go home. You don't have a car here and you're still in your clothes from the dance," Katie said with a small smile. One of the nurses gave Rob the top half of a set of scrubs because his dress shirt was covered in blood from his own head wound. But he still wore his dress pants and shoes. "Go get cleaned up and rest and come back to me later." Katie's eyes twinkled with her request.

"Ok," Rob whispered. He leaned up and gave Katie a soft kiss on the lips. I awkwardly turned away and I'm pretty sure I heard my dad grunt his disapproval. Rob and Katie didn't seem to care who was in the room.

When I looked over to Quil to get ready to leave he was having a silent stare down with Jack.

I sighed heavily which caught my mom's attention. She placed her hand on Dad's arm. Her touch broke the stare down and when Jack looked at her, Mom shook her head slightly telling Dad it wasn't the time to air his opinions.

"I won't be home late," I said to my mom, grabbed Quil's hand, and stormed out of the room with Rob trailing behind us.

"You know we're going to have to talk about all that when we're alone, right?" I asked Quil quietly once we were in the hall.

"Yeah."

The route from the hospital to Quil's home seemed to take forever. I kept going over all the things I had heard and felt and I couldn't figure out what was going on. If Rob wasn't in the car I would've launched a million questions by now. My desire to be alone with Quil and get things out in the open made the trip home unbearable. I think Quil could sense it too because he smirked at me when I would make any sort of agitated movement.

Rob, Quil, and I were hungry so we decided to go through a drive-thru to pick up something to eat. Well, I decided to go through a drive-thru. Quil wanted to eat at the diner, to delay our conversation no doubt. Rob just wanted to get home and shower; eager to get back to Katie. I, of course, wanted to talk!

I sat next to Quil in his small living room on the small couch. His apartment above the shop wasn't that small, but with Quil's size it seemed that way. My fingers were picking at the fray of the hole in my jeans trying to be patient; anxiously waiting for what Quil had to say.

"I didn't want to tell you like this," Quil sighed, his hands ran up and down his face in exasperation.

Quil let out a defeated sigh before he looked up at me and said, "I don't even know where to start, so… shoot."

"Shoot?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, shoot. What do you want to know?"

"Are you freakin'…" I started. I didn't know where to begin either. I didn't know what the hell was going on. I inhaled a calming breath and started to ask questions.

"Ok… what the hell was my dad talking about? What did he mean when he said that you ruined the family? What arranged marriage? What did _you_ mean when you said 'she's mine'?" I tried to mimic Quil's deep, possessive voice. "Why is it that I need to be with you as much as I can? Why _do_ you hang around me so much and treat me differently than Katie?" I threw up my hands indicating I was done. I blurted out the main questions on my mind. I did want to ask him all sorts of questions about my physical reaction towards him, but I was scared. I still wasn't sure if he regretted any of the touching and the kissing we did earlier. We hadn't had a chance to talk about it.

"Which one of those do you want me to answer first?"

"Any of them. I want to know everything."

Quil gave his face one more nervous rub down, sat back on the couch to get comfortable, stretching his legs towards mine, and gave a slight nod. I knew he had his mind set and he decided he was going to tell me everything.

"I'm just going to start from the beginning, ok?" Quil asked.

"Ok," I quietly replied. I settled myself on my side of the couch and intertwined my legs with his, facing him straight on, waiting for what he had to say. I was so excited and nervous and scared at the same time. I really didn't know what to expect.

"Did you know that your Uncle Sam went out with Leah in high school?"

I let out a frustrated sigh and threw my head back dramatically. What the hell was he talking about? "No, I didn't know that. What does that have to do…?"

"Just…listen," Quil cut me off with a scowl. "I'm getting there. Be patient." Ha! Be patient. Please. But I listened and kept my mouth shut.

Quil continued. He started telling me how Sam and Leah dated in high school and were engaged to be married. I hadn't heard a word of that story before and it actually shocked me since I knew how much Sam and Emily were in love. Aunt Emily came to La Push to visit the family and met Sam. As soon as Sam met Emily something shifted and changed inside him.

Quil went on and on describing Sam's feeling when he first laid eyes on Emily. It was easy for Quil to communicate those feelings because of the wolf connection. While in wolf form the pack can read each other's minds and feel each other's feelings. His face lit up when he described Sam's reaction to Emily with words like "the only person in the world" and "center of his universe" and "meant to be together." I was so caught up in the story that I noticed I had leaned closer to Quil and hung on to his every word. It sounded so romantic, but then it sounded so horrible for Leah.

"How could he just forget about Leah like that?" I asked.

"He didn't. He loved Leah too, but with Emily it was something different. More…intense."

"But they had just met."

Quil slowly nodded and smiled slightly. The feelings he described next sounded very familiar.

"Sam tried to fight it because he loved Leah so much, but he couldn't. He couldn't be _without_ Emily. When he tried to stay away he couldn't focus on anything else but Emily. He was a wreck and it physically hurt for them to be apart." Quil's hand lightly touched his chest where his heart was located. I've made that similar gesture before when I missed Quil so badly it hurt.

My heart started to beat faster when his words started to sink in. I felt the same things towards Quil. I heard the same things from other wolves' wives and girlfriends.

Quil continued. We had moved closer together and he put my hand in his. "And when they are together all they want to do is touch each other and be close to one another because of the energy between them. It's like their lives revolve around each other. It's like they are connected by an invisible cord that is constantly trying to pull them together."

Yep, that definitely sounded familiar too. I didn't feel weird that he was telling me Sam and Emily's private thoughts because it sounded like he was talking about us. The prior week when Quil barely spoke to me, he still visited and had to be near me. It made me feel better too when he was near.

"And when they touch," Quil thumb and fingers slid from my hand up to my elbow, "That energy flows between the two of them so intensely, like electricity, that it becomes addictive." He was staring down at our intertwined hands. I could feel that familiar tingly sensation I've felt whenever Quil and I touched lately. It seems to have become more intense when there was more emotion between us.

"Do you mean like that?" I whispered, squeezing my hand around his to indicate that I felt the exact sensation he was talking about at that moment.

Quil's gaze snapped up to mine and he slowly nodded with a small smile on his face.

"Are we like them? Sam and Emily?" I asked cautiously. It sure sounded like we were. I knew how strong my feelings were for Quil and I knew all my feelings for him were exactly how he described Sam and Emily's relationship, but I wasn't confident Quil felt the same. I knew there was a part of him that wanted me, but I wasn't sure what that meant. Did he want a relationship with me? I know I did, but I've wanted that with Quil for a very long time.

Quil paused and took a deep breath before answering me. When he answered his voice seemed anxious and excited at the same time. "Yeah," He smiled and let out a breathy chuckle and his face held a shy smile. "We're very similar.

"So, you like me like that? Like how you described?" I couldn't help the huge smile that crept across my face?

"Yeah, but it's taken me a long time. I've waited a long time." he answered, his smile never faltering. But his words sounded strange to me. I felt my smile fall just a little.

"What do you mean?" Did he just learn to love me in that way because I was the only girl he's ever been around?

"Oh man, I didn't say that right," he replied and pulled my hand up to kiss it. "I've always loved you Claire, just in many different ways. I knew this," he made a hand gesture back and forth between us, "between us would come eventually…would be like Sam and Emily's relationship. I hoped it would, anyway. It's just been so confusing for me."

"What's so confusing? I still don't know…"

"Claire, Sam _imprinted_ on Emily. Jared imprinted on Kim. Paul on Rachel, Jake and Nessie. All of them. Well, most of them." Quil interrupted as he rattled off several loving couples in my life. He looked into my eyes and with his free hand he ran the back of his fingers softly across my cheek.

"Claire, I've imprinted on you."

"Wha…what does that mean?" I whispered. My eyes were wide with shock. My heartbeat was beating with excitement. I didn't even know what 'imprinted' meant, but it had to be a good thing. All the other couples were so in love and happy.

"It means the same thing that happened with Sam when he first met Emily, happened to me when I met you for the first time. All the things I told you before about the need to protect you are part of the imprint."

My body automatically reacted to what Quil was saying. I launched myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I was practically straddling him. I couldn't squeeze him hard enough. His arms wrapped around me too as he ran his hands up and down my back and through my hair. I could feel the happy tears start to fill my eyes and I was so excited my body was trembling. Quil loved me too. I didn't have to fantasize what it would be like to be his girlfriend because he basically told me that I already was and I have been since we first met.

_Wait a minute. First met?_

I pushed myself away from Quil and looked at him in confusion. "It happened when we first met?" I asked.

Quil cleared his throat and looked down like he was embarrassed. "Yeah."

"But I was two years old." I tried not to look disgusted, because I wasn't. Plus I knew our relationship has never been more than platonic...until we kissed earlier that day. "Was it the same as the others?"

"No, of course not. It wasn't exactly the same. You were only a toddler. I had this need to look after you and protect you. The connection and all the other feelings were there except for the…um…sexual desire." Quil gave me an exasperated look. "And I used to get so pissed off if anyone thought differently."

"But your pack knew, didn't they?" I asked. Although they have had a lot of time to practice controlling their thoughts, Quil told me in the beginning it hadn't always been that way. It would have been easy for the others to figure out if Quil had bad intentions with me.

Quil nodded and gave me a shy smile. "They understood. It drove them all crazy. I was so happy when it happened."

"But my dad didn't understand, did he?" I asked quietly. When he mentioned not everyone understood how Quil felt about me my dad, and the way he overreacts to everything, popped in my head. I can't even imagine how all that went down.

"No." Quil replied and looked down at our hands. "Of course I had to tell your parents why I wanted to hang out with you so much." He looked up at me with a small smile. "I was only the second person after Sam to imprint so no one knew what to think about me and a toddler. The others didn't have any advice for me. All I knew was that I couldn't let you go and _not_ be with you. So yeah, when I told your parents Sam and Emily were there too. They helped me explain things. We had to tell them everything. We had to tell them about the wolves and the imprinting. We tried really hard to explain my feelings, but your dad couldn't get past the whole soul-mate-perfect-match and possible-mother-of-my-future-children-thing." My heart fluttered a little with that description of me.

"You're mom, on the other hand," Quil chuckled, "liked the whole romantic part of it. She was excited that I would be around to watch you grow up and protect you from everything. And…I think she liked the idea about a permanent babysitter too." Quil smiled.

"Is that why my dad left?" I asked quietly and looked down at our intertwined hands. I didn't want to make Quil feel bad, but I had to know.

"Um, that's something you need to talk to your mother about. She never really talked about it, but I think it may have been a big part. I've tried to apologize several times to your mom, but she insists that I wasn't the main reason." Quil tried to explain. "But you should talk to her Claire-Bear." His hand cupped my face and pushed back the hair that had fallen in my face. "I'm sorry."

Quil's touch automatically made me feel better. I pushed into his hand and enjoyed the sensations that used to feel forbidden. I tried not to think of my parents because what happened between the two of them occurred a long time ago, but I knew I needed to have a talk with my mom. More exciting things were happening at the moment. Quil was mine and I belonged to him.

I was close enough to Quil that if I moved just another couple inches I could kiss him again. I had been thinking about our earlier kiss since it happened. I wanted to be with him like that again.

Once I made my move Quil's other hand held the other side of my face and prevented it from happening.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to keep the whine out of my voice.

"Claire…I love you and I know we're meant to be together, but I can't right now. I'm not ready for it."

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**A/N: Don't be mad! I gave you a little lovin' between the two. I'm sorry I had to leave it that way. You know I can't leave things easy. As I said. I'm on vaca for TWO WEEKS. I will try my best to get you the next chapter, but it may be awhile. Hang in there! Let me know what you think about this chapter.**

**I would love to hear from ya! Shelby**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello everyone! Vacation was awesome, but I know you want to get on to the good stuff. As you know the wolves are not my idea…duh.**

**Chapter 17**

"_Claire…I love you and I know we're meant to be together, but I can't. I'm not ready for it."_

Slowly, I pulled myself away from Quil, moving towards the opposite end of the sofa. He said he wasn't ready for me. He wasn't ready for us. I felt the smile fall from my face and all the happiness from what Quil just revealed to me drain from my body.

He doesn't want me.

"But you just said…" I started, but I felt my throat tighten up and the back of my eyeballs became hot. I didn't want to cry in front of Quil. I understood everything Quil just told me, but his final words made the most impact. I didn't want to come across pathetic.

"I know what I just said Claire-Bear. And it's all true." He pulled me closer, but only close enough to look in my eyes. "I love you Claire and I always have." His words brought a small smile to my face. Quil smiled back shyly and continued. "You're so beautiful, perfect for me, so sweet."

His words once again made my heart swell. "But…you're not ready." I whispered and tried to keep the hurt out of my voice.

"Claire-Bear…" Quil sighed heavily while his hand stroked through my hair and rested on the back of my neck. "You're only sixteen."

"That's what this is about? You told me we were meant to be together. Why does it matter how old I am?" I tried to make sure to keep the whine out of my voice. Quil apparently thought I was still immature so I didn't want to confirm it. "Besides, I'll be seventeen in six more days."

"Six more days really doesn't matter right now…" 

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Weren't you going to tell me everything when I was seventeen anyway?"

"Yeah, that was the plan. But I didn't expect all of this to happen so quickly." Quil gestured between the two of us. "I didn't expect to be so attracted to you so quickly. I didn't expect to be so jealous when you were with _him_. I expected everything to be the same as it always was and we would eventually get there…to a time in the future when you could truly be mine in every meaning."

"We can be that way now." I whispered.

"Do you understand how confusing this is for me?" Quil grumbled and quickly moved away from me and sat on the far side of the couch. His hands rubbed across his face and raked through his hair.

"How is it confusing? You said you loved me like that and you wanted me, so I don't see what the problem is?" The warmth still sat behind my eyes and threatened to burst the tears through.

Quil stood up and started to pace the small room. His brow furrowed as he seemed to be sorting things out in his head. When he finally stopped his face looked anguished.

Quil's voice was pleading, begging me to understand. "I've been there since you were a little kid, almost every day of your life. I was practically your father-figure because he was never around." He gave me an apologizing look remembering what he mentioned about my father only minutes before. "And now…now look at you." Quil pointed his hand towards me and I watched his eyes skim my body from head to toe. "Do you understand how hard it's been for me to go from being one of your guardians – in the parental sense – to your potential boyfriend? It messes with my head! There's this big part of me that is so excited that we can be together finally! But a small part is nagging at my brain telling me I'm a big pervert and I'm taking advantage of you. That small part is trying to protect you from me. That small part is telling me all those people who didn't understand our relationship when you were a child, who thought those horrible things about me, were right."

"But I'm not a child anymore," I said sternly. I didn't want him to think of me like that, not after all I've shared with him. Not after all the feelings I laid out before him.

"I know that Claire."

"No," I stood up and started to stalk towards him. "No, I don't think you do. The last few years we have been more like best friends more than anything. Isn't that what sometimes happens when two normal people fall in love? They become friends first and their relationship goes from there. Just because our relationship has had more stages than the normal relationship doesn't mean we can't go to the next level."

I could see Quil start to absorb my words and it looked like they may have made sense to him. During my speech I moved closer to Quil until our bodies were practically touching and I had to crane my neck to look him in the face. I'm not sure where this bold Claire came from, but I decided to go with it. I was tired of Quil holding back information and his feelings from me.

"How am I supposed to continue being _only_ your best friend after everything you just told me? Now that I know that you love me. Now that I know I'm your mate! After you kissed me like that! Do you think I can just ignore all that?"

Quil let out a big sigh and gently pushed his through my hair, threading his fingers through the strands. I closed my eyes because I didn't dare look for the rejection I was hearing in his voice.

"No, but I think you should," he said as he kissed my forehead. His lips lingered there before he surprisingly started to press his lips to both of my cheeks and the tip of my nose.

"But I don't want to," I whispered. "And how am I supposed to if you keep doing that?"

With my eyes still close I could feel the wetness in my eyes finally give from the built-up frustration until they trailed down my cheek. That's when I felt Quil's broad nose rub up against mine. "Oh Claire," he whispered. His mouth softly pressed up against my mouth and we were kissing again. But unlike the first time I didn't feel like I was forcing him. This time he initiated it and it was soft and sweet. Which was so damn confusing after all he just said, but I didn't care. I was kissing Quil again and it just felt right. The rush of energy between us made me feel whole like it's what we were supposed to be doing. The bond forcing us together seemed to be content.

So what was Quil's problem? He didn't seem like he needed more time to think about it. He seemed to enjoy kissing me just as I enjoyed kissing him!

Quil finally broke off the kiss, but didn't pull away. I looked up at him dreamily.

"What's so wrong about _that_? How can you say all those things about not being ready and then do that?" My voice sounded breathy as my body relaxed. I had to wrap my arms around Quil to keep from falling to the ground.

"Now I feel like I took advantage of you. That small nagging part of my brain is telling me you are just a kid and I shouldn't be doing this."

"Tell it to shut up," I said with a smile. Quil smiled back and pulled away a couple steps. I backed up until I felt the arm of the couch and sat down, still feeling the effects of his kiss.

"It's not just me Claire. I know you'll get pissed, but you need to understand where I'm coming from." Quil gripped onto the chair he stood next to. It seemed like he was forcing himself to keep his distance from me. "It's your dad too."

"My dad?" _What the hell did he do now?_

"Yeah, he pretty much threatened me. He said if I laid a hand on you before your eighteenth birthday, before you are legally an adult, he was going to have me arrested," Quil said sheepishly.

"That's not fair! How dare he?" I replied. The warmth and mushiness I felt from Quil's kiss was gone. Now I was just annoyed. "How can he set rules when he's not even here to enforce them? He can't tell me who I can and cannot kiss."

"I don't think he's worried about kissing," Quil mumbled quietly. I looked up at him understanding what he meant and felt the blush crawl up to my cheeks.

I often fantasized about having sex with Quil, but I wasn't sure I was ready. Now that he brought it up I was actually a little nervous about someday doing _that_ with him. I'm not actually sure I would be able to deny Quil if he asked me to though…if our kissing got any more passionate than it did at the hospital, but I knew he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't be as aggressive as Jason had been. I knew Quil would only have my best interest and needs at heart.

"Well we don't have to do that," I muttered. "I mean not that I don't want to, because I do…someday…" My cheeks flamed again. Quil looked amused, but didn't say anything. I looked down and composed myself.

"Can we just limit this between us to just holding hands and occasional kissing?" I asked with a shy shrug. "It can be similar to what we had before…just add the kissing. I like the kissing."

Quil chuckled and quickly approached me, wrapping his big arms around me. He looked down at me. "I like the kissing too," he said with a little smirk and then gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

"We don't even have to label this. Everyone will know I know and we'll just go on from there. Is that ok?"

Quil closed his eyes and rested his forehead on mine. After a minute he finally said, "Yeah. I think that's ok." I sighed in relief and melted into Quil's chest. "Let's just keep it on the down-low around your dad."

"Yeah," I groaned. "Alright." If Quil wanted to take things slow and work out all the uncertainty in his head, I was alright with it. I would take what I could get from him for now.

Because of my nerves, I wasn't too eager to start anything physical with Quil. I knew those feelings were there for both of us and I knew our relationship would get there sooner or later, but I didn't want to upset Quil and try to push him into something he was uncomfortable with. I could see his point. He did watch me grow up through all different stages of life and I was thirteen years younger than him. I would just have to make sure he didn't see me as a child anymore. But it wasn't like I was experienced in the art of seduction either.

After finishing our dinner and watching a movie cuddled up in Quil's living room, Quil drove me home. He didn't stay because he hoped to avoid my father and told me he would pick me up in the morning. Quil was relieved from work the next day to help our family and mom called the school excusing Katie until further notice, obviously, and me for just one day. Bummer.

At least I got out of talking to Jason for another day. I avoided his three phone calls, replying with a text letting him know everything was fine and I would talk to him later. I had almost forgotten about him with Quil's revelation. I hadn't had a chance to think about what I was going to say to Jason. I didn't think telling him the truth would be a good idea. How would I explain I was a thirty-year-old's soul mate? I hoped to have a chat with my mom about everything, including break-up advice, but she had already been home to pick up a few overnight things and then went back to the hospital. Although I knew she had other things to worry about, I really needed my mother to help me sort things out. Luckily I found Mom at my Aunt Emily's.

Quil picked me up the next morning and we headed to Sam and Emily's for a quick breakfast before heading to the hospital. We decided to at least let Sam and Emily know that I was informed about the imprint since he was their fierce leader.

Mom was huddled in the kitchen with several other members of the wolf pack. Sam and Emily were there of course, along with Embry, Collin, Jared and Paul. Brady, one of the younger, unattached members of the pack, sat a little too close to my mom. Brady had always called my mom 'hot,' but it was all in innocent fun. I could tell all the guys were having fun by trying to boost her spirits.

"Brady, leave my mom alone. You're invading her personal space." I shot at Brady as I walked from the front door to my mom, giving her a hug.

"Jan loves me! Just like all the ladies," Brady replied with an exaggerated stretch, moving his arm around my mom's shoulder. I rolled my eyes.

"What are you doing here?" I asked my mom ignoring Brady.

"I couldn't sleep very well on that cot in Katie's room so I was up around 4:00 a.m. Emily insisted I come over for a 'good' breakfast since I haven't been eating much," Jan replied. I could see the lack of sleep and nutrition was wearing on her only after two days. "And lucky for me these fine boys were here to entertain me."

I had unconsciously gravitated back towards Quil and my hand found his as my mom was talking. Quil sat down and I naturally lowered myself on to his lap. We often held hands, but we hadn't ever been this close in front of the others before. We've only ever been this close the last few days. Several pair of eyes noticed the movement and was watching us carefully. I hadn't noticed the scrutiny until someone spoke up.

"What's up with you two?" Embry asked cautiously.

Quil and I both looked up at Embry and when we realized he was talking to us, we looked at each other and both shrugged. Quil silently asked if it was ok to tell the group. I nodded shyly.

"She knows." Quil simply said. Everyone sat still for a few awkward seconds quietly staring at us.

"_Every_thing?" Embry asked skeptically.

"Everything." Quil replied with a smirk looking at me. I gave him a smile in return and bashfully looked down at my lap unsure of how the group would react.

The room erupted with excitement and I finally pulled my eyes up to look at my mom. She had a proud smile on her face and her eyes glistened a little.

"It's about friggin' time!" Embry exclaimed with a smile. You could feel relief washing through the room. For years everyone withheld the secret of imprinting from me and now they didn't have to hide it anymore.

"Kim's going to freak!" Jared said which made me laugh because I knew she knew about my crush on Quil.

"Congratulations sweetie," Emily said with a kiss on my cheek. "You're officially in with the wolf-girls…even though you have been all along." She winked.

"So have you consummated this relationship yet?" Brady blurted out. I looked up at him in shock with my mouth wide open just in time to see my mom and Embry smack him on either side of the head at the same time.

"Man, I can't wait until you imprint and grow up already!" Embry barked.

**A/N: if any of you read my story The Protector, you would know why I made myself crack up with that last line. **

**I'm between books right now so I'm hoping to get some chapters written so I can post quickly! I promise I will finish this story. **

**As usual, please let me know what you think. I LOVE hearing from everyone. It makes me smile.**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Instead of going to the hospital with my mom, Emily, and me, Quil stayed back and happily accepted a 'Honey Do' list from my mom. She didn't normally take advantage of his eagerness to help her (Quil was generous like that), but under the circumstances she consented. I think Quil's eagerness was due to my want, _need_, to speak to my mom about the whole situation.

"You can ask us anything you want, honey," Mom smiled from the front seat of Emily's car. She must have noticed I was deep in thought. "I know all about imprinting." Emily's kind eyes smiled back at me through the rearview mirror.

I sighed and slid up between the front two seats, resting my elbows on each. I didn't know where to begin. I had all sorts of questions for Emily, but I really didn't want to ask about the intimate part of imprinting in front of my mother. I decided to go for the hard stuff first.

"Ok," I said and shifted my eyes towards the floor. "But I have a question for you first. About you and Dad."

"Oh," Mom looked slightly uncomfortable. I don't think she was expecting that sort of question.

"Is it ok to ask…" I trailed off and my eyes shifted to Emily asking if it was something Mom would rather talk about in private.

"She's my sister. She knows everything about that too." Mom gave me permission with a sad smile and a nod.

"Did Dad leave because Quil imprinted on me?"

After what seemed to be a long moment, Mom sighed and then answered, "It's not _the_ reason."

"Oh," I replied. I could feel my shoulders slump. It may have not been the main reason, but it sounds like it had something to do with it. I had something to do with my parent's divorce.

"Your dad and I had had a lot of differences before that happened." Mom looked up at Emily and Emily gave her a small supportive smile. "Once Emily moved here to be with Sam, I wanted to follow her. I missed my sister terribly. I wanted you and Katie to grow up the same way Emily and I did…in a small town, knowing about your culture. Your dad didn't want to live on the reservation. My argument to him was that he could do his job anywhere he lived. Plus, as you know, your Grandma Cooper can't stand me. I had no qualms of leaving her behind. But, your father did. Finally, he gave in but I knew he was bitter about it. He changed." Mom's eyes started to well up a little and she must have noticed the worry on my face wondering what my Dad did to her because she continued with a small smile. "He was always good to me Claire, but I could tell his feelings for me had changed. He treated me differently. We hadn't been _together_ in awhile." _Eww_, I thought quietly, not wanting to interrupt my mom. Or insult her.

"He acted strange and when I asked him about it he finally confessed that he was upset that I chose my family over his…which is basically true. But I didn't see it like that. I saw it as an opportunity for _our_ small family. It was a chance for you and Katie to grow up learning about your ancestors and living around people who were so loving and kind and would help you out in times of need. I love it here so much and he couldn't see that. He could only see that he wasn't making the money he could be if he lived in the big city. Your dad tried to change my mind so many times. I could tell he wasn't happy here, but I was and living here with you girls without him meant more to me than living as a family somewhere else. That may sound really bad, but that's how I felt."

I understood. I loved my home. I loved my friends and family and the close-knit community we had. I can't imagine what it will be like to go away to school when the time came, but I knew I would come back eventually. I'm so glad Mom chose to stay here even if it did cost me time with my father.

"So, when Quil came to us one day and described what had happened, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Jack knew there was no way after Quil's confession that I was leaving La Push. And yes, he was angry about the imprint and couldn't totally grasp it. He couldn't understand. He couldn't handle it and couldn't understand how I could. So, he left."

"What did you think of the imprint?" I practically whispered.

"At first I was skeptical, but after what I witnessed with Emily and Sam, I knew it was a good thing," Mom smiled at me and then turned to Emily. "They assured me Quil's intentions were good. Great even."

"It didn't take much to lure her to the dark side," Emily joked. Mom and I laughed.

"The whole wolf thing made me nervous…well, you know, because of Emily's scars." Mom looked up at Emily apologetically. Emily shrugged. She didn't mind talking about the scars on her face. The scars were caused by Sam when he couldn't control his wolf. He was the first out of the pack to go through the change and he didn't have anyone to help him control his temper. Losing his control one night put Emily in the hospital with ragged claw marks disfiguring one side of her beautiful face. I could see how my mom would have been nervous about leaving me alone with Quil.

"She was hesitant at first, but Sam and everyone else convinced your mom you were perfectly safe around Quil." Emily added.

"In fact, that's what made me feel less anxious about you and Katie growing up without your dad around. Quil insisted he would keep you safe. The two of you…but the favoritism was obvious," Mom winked.

It was quiet in the car while my mind processed everything. I finally realized that everyone knew Quil imprinted with me, except me. I always knew he and I had a special connection, but I could see how others would take it. Others besides my family and the pack members. I still couldn't believe I hadn't heard anything about imprinting until now.

"I can't believe everyone kept this from me," I said quietly, more to myself.

"Claire, I am so sorry," Mom started to say. By the tone of her voice I could tell she thought I was upset about it.

"No Mom, I'm not mad. I just feel stupid and naïve I guess," I shrugged. "Maybe I could've stopped Dad from leaving if I only knew what was going on." But of course I couldn't. I was two at the time.

"Please don't think it's your fault. Like I said, your Dad and I just weren't seeing eye-to-eye and this imprint thing was just something to add to the list."

"And don't feel stupid," Emily said. "Quil asked that we not mention anything to you, although I can't believe you didn't guess from all the stories about our legends. He wanted to be the one to tell you. He didn't think that that time would come so quickly."

"I think dating Jason pushed things along nicely, don't you think?" Mom asked Emily with a knowing smile on her face. They both giggled.

"What?"

"Quil was _so_ jealous of Jason." Mom said.

"Yeah, I now." I replied. I remembered how dating Jason seemed to upset Quil. I also remembered what happened when Quil smelled Jason's scent all over my body.

"He thought for sure he was losing you. But it was obvious to everyone, except Quil, that you were in love with him."

"Especially us girls who have been imprinted on," Emily added. "We know that look."

"Shut up," I chuckled from their teasing.

"We knew Jason didn't stand a chance against Quil once Quil told you the truth." Mom said.

"Jason never stood a chance against Quil's." I said shyly.

"We all kept telling him he really needed to tell you before you got too close with Jason," Emily said.

"I wish he would've," I grumbled. "I would've wanted my kiss with Quil yesterday to be my first official kiss ever…not the one with Jason."

"What?" Mom and Emily asked at the same time. I then realized what I just admitted. Emily sat up straighter to see me better through the review. My mom stared at me with a look I couldn't decipher. Concern maybe?

"He kissed you?" Emily asked. I could tell by her eyes she had a smile on her face even though I couldn't see her mouth.

"Well…actually…the first time…I kissed him." I looked at my mom guiltily. Mom's eyebrows shot up.

"The first time?" Emily asked with a chime to her voice. "You've kissed more than once?"

"Hopefully that's all you've done," Mom said with a pointed look.

"Yes mom," I replied with a roll of my eyes. I had a sudden thought. "Hey, wait a minute. You and Katie were _ecstatic_ when you found out I kissed Jason. Why the stink-eye about Quil?"

"He's much older than you Claire," Mom replied. "And the thing between you two is more serious than a crush."

_It's not like he has any more experience than me._ I thought.

"Don't worry Mom, Quil and I already talked about all that," I assured her. I filled them both in on what Quil and I discussed about keeping our relationship the same except for the more affectionate, but innocent, parts and they both seemed pleased.

"Besides, we're meant to be together forever so what does it matter anyway?"

"Just give it time," Mom suggested. "Experience life a little before you officially settle down. You know Quil will be there for you."

I nodded my head in agreement, but in my mind I was day-dreaming about what that first time with Quil would actually be like. If just kissing him could make me feel so good, I was eager to find out what else he could do.

"Besides, we all know wolf-sperm is pretty potent." Emily practically sang happily from the front seat. Most of the wolves in the pack had kids and about half of those were not planned.

"Oh God," I groaned and covered my hand with my face.

"You need to know this stuff, Claire." Mom used her motherly tone.

"Yeah, ok, but can we leave the wolf _anatomy_ and how things work to the professionals," I asked and pointed to Emily. "Quil has already had the sex talk with me and I know how things work. This is different. I'd rather talk to the other wolf-girls."

Mom looked slightly disappointed, but mostly relieved. "Alright, but as long as Emily is there too."

"Thanks."

The rest of the car ride was spent by me telling Emily and Mom how Quil told me about the imprinting and the events leading up to it. I left out the part about the heavy make-out session between me and Jason and about me being at a party after the school dance. It was irrelevant anyway.

"What are you going to tell Jason?" Katie asked me from her hospital bed while I pulled out the list of items she requested from home. I stopped what I was doing and looked at her, confused. I was sure I told her I called Jason and Karla and the rest of her friends letting them know Katie was alive and kickin'.

"I told him you were ok."

"No, about Quil." Katie replied with a knowing smile. She knew. Of course she knew.

"You know?" I whined and sat down on the bed by her good leg.

"Sorry," Katie shrugged.

"I literally am the last person to know," I mused. Since I'm not really supposed to tell anyone else about wolf-related things, I knew I could tell Katie about the imprint because she already knew about the wolves.

"Hey, don't be mad…especially with Quil. I pestered him until he gave in and spilled his guts. He didn't have a choice really." Katie said as she adjusted herself more comfortably on the bed. She mentioned how her butt was starting to go numb being in the same position constantly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Katie started, looking guilty. "A while ago – I think it was right before your sixteenth birthday, like last year – I overheard Dad say something not-so-nice about Quil." She gave me a look that clearly told me she would not repeat what Dad said. "When I asked Mom about it she said it was nothing and that Dad just didn't like Quil." We both rolled our eyes knowing how our dad was.

"What he said still stuck with me, but I really didn't think anything of it until I observed how Quil acted towards you. It was obvious he liked you most out of the family…you know…Quil-and-Claire-Day…" She made her "duh" facial expression.

"Which you've finagled your way into more than once…" I said with a mock sneer which made her laugh, but she ignored me and continued.

"Hearing what Dad said and watching Quil with you didn't make sense, you know. Dad's words and Quil's actions contradicted each other. But, I still could tell something was up. He always treated you differently than anyone else. He rarely lost his temper, pretty much gave you what you wanted," she added with an eye roll. "Not once did he miss a birthday. You got the better gifts. And he was over to our house every single day," Katie stressed the last three words with a jab at the bed with her good hand. "He didn't come over to see me or mom. It was to see you.

"So, I confronted Quil. I told him I knew what was going on…even though I had no clue what was going on…and he didn't buy it. He kept saying 'I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout Katie'" she mocked Quil's deep voice the best she could. "Then I told him what Dad had said," she gave me a look indicating again that I shouldn't ask what he had said. "And then he got pissed! At first I thought he was mad at me, but then he must've seen my freaked-out face and stopped his tirade. He hugged me and said he was sorry for scaring me and then he spilled his guts. He said I was old enough to know and I also think he didn't want me to see him in a bad way, you know?"

I thought about what she said, and I thought about all the times she crashed in on our alone times, and asked the question I have been dying to ask.

"Were you jealous?"

"Yes!" Katie didn't hesitate. I gave her an incredulous look. "But not of you, of what you two have. As you know, I don't date much." I quirked my eyebrow at that. "I know I know…I flirt and I like hanging out with the guys, but I steer clear of anything more than that. Guys are a-holes. For awhile I was honestly hoping someone would imprint on me," she said this with embarrassment. I internally "awed" at that comment and gave her a smile. "Emily told me if it hasn't happened already, since I know and have met all the wolves, then it's not going to happen. She shot my dream down." Katie gave a good-hearted laugh and then cringed from the pain it caused in her aching side.

"I'm sorry." I replied, but I'm not sure what I was sorry about. "Rob's a cool guy. He's not an a-hole."

"He is pretty cool." Katie nodded with a beaming smile. "Plus he's built like a wolf and just as sweet to me as Quil is towards you. So, close enough." She giggled.

"Can I tell you something else?" She asked, looking down at her lap.

"Of course, please do."

"I think I love him."

This time I "awed" out loud.

* * *

**A/N: I didn't think that chapter was too exciting, but probably necessary for back-story. I'll try to excite things up for you. You know Claire's going to have a conversation with Jason now! Yucky…don't envy that girl. Please let me know what you think. I can't make things better if I don't know what you don't or do like! **

**Story recs: There is a fic that I absolutely LOVE! If you like Edward and Bella fics try **_**The Maiden**_** by beegurl13. It is SO good and she updates every day and promises too until it is done. If you like heart-breaking imprint stories (I haven't read a lot that I really love) try **_**Live Like You're Dying**_** by GracelesslyFalling. I have tears every time I read that story. Geesh!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I barely registered Karla's rambling about her weekend with Marshal. Karla doesn't ramble so I know it must've been exciting and juicy information about the two of them, but I couldn't focus. My eyes darted around the busy hallway trying to catch any sign of Jason. I had somehow avoided speaking to him since the dance and only texted back and forth a couple of times. People scurried to and from their lockers between classes, trying to do it within the three minute time limit. I purposely walked behind really tall people and my mind viewed the surrounding area for possible escape routes. So far it was third period and I had managed to avoid him. My nervous-belly had been bugging me all morning. You know that feeling you get in your stomach when you're extra nervous about having to do something that you really didn't want to do and it actually causes problems with your digestive tract. There were several trips to the bathroom that morning. Ew. Yeah, I know.

The prior evening I whined to Quil about breaking it off with Jason. It's not that I still wanted to be with Jason, but I still wanted to be his friend. I liked his company. Plus, I actually didn't want to go through the whole breaking up part. Quil tried to assure me that Jason would get over it. Of course Quil was being a little heartless about it because if it were up to him I would just not talk to Jason ever again.

"I can't do that," I told Quil.

"Why not?" Quil asked with a hint of that jealousy I kind of got a thrill out of.

"I'm going to see him around school and now Karla's going out with his best friend, so…"

"I don't want him touching you anymore," Quil practically growled possessively. It sent a small, excited shiver up my spine. This whole only-occasional-kissing-rule was so annoying when he said and did things that reminded me of his feelings for me.

"I know Quil! I don't want him touching me anymore either. I'll make it perfectly clear we are done. Geez, don't worry about it."

Then Quil suggested he be there when I gave Jason the boot just in case Jason got all pissed off and violent. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head slightly.

"Claire!" Karla snapped me back to the present to receive her full attention. When I looked her in the eyes she continued. "Did you hear a word I just said?" she asked with a small smile. One thing about Karla is that she isn't one of those girls who got overly annoyed when you didn't give her your total attention.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I'm kinda freakin' out here." I tried to explain while my eyes continued to scan my surroundings.

"Why, what's wrong?" she asked looking around trying to see what I was seeing.

I bent my face closer to Karla to whisper. "I'm breaking it off with Jason," I admitted with a grimace.

Karla's eyes were wide and she looked a little sad. "Why? What happened?" She had probably already imagined the many double dates the four of us could've gone on since we were best friends and Jason and Marshal were best friends. Then the protective friend kicked in and her eyes hardened. "Did he hurt you at Marshal's house?"

"No! He didn't do anything wrong. Although he does move a little too fast for me," I mumbled the last part. "It's just…" I started, but then quickly scanned the hall again for Jason. When I didn't see him, I continued. "I don't like him _that way_. You know? I don't feel that connection with Jason."

After a short moment a little twinkle sparked in Karla's eye and a small smile crept on her face.

"Who _do_ you like in _that_ way?" Karla asked knowingly. When I silently shook my head and shrugged my shoulders like I didn't know what she was talking about, she answered my question. "Quil?"

"I don't know what you mean? Quil and I are just friends." I'm such a bad actor.

"Oh come on! You can tell me. Who am I going to tell? You're like my only friend."

"Please don't tell Marshal." I begged quietly and leaned against my locker door, realizing I just admitted I did in fact feel _that_ way for Quil. "I don't want Jason knowing anything. I don't want anyone knowing anything really."

"Claire, you know I won't. Sisters before misters, isn't that what they say?"

"I'm pretty sure it's 'bros before hos.'"

"That's the closest female version I could come up with." We both giggled. "Do you think Quil feels the same way?" she asked while grabbing her jacket from her locker.

"I know he does," I whispered bashfully.

Karla looked up at me with wide eyes again. "I knew it! Didn't I tell you? I've caught him giving you the googly eyes more than once." She didn't press me for any more details. She didn't need them. I knew she was happy for me and she respected my privacy on some issues just as I respected hers.

"Yeah, that's why I don't need people knowing what's going on between us because of our age difference and all that. But my family knows and they are totally cool with it," I made sure I added just so Karla knew I wasn't totally hiding my relationship with Quil.

"That's really great Claire. I'm really happy for you," Karla said sincerely. "But you have to break it off with Jason." I could tell she didn't envy me that.

"Yes and it's gonna suck!" I groaned and let my forehead fall to my locker.

"What's gonna suck?" Jason's voice boomed excitedly behind us. Hopefully that last sentence was all of our conversation he heard. Karla and I both jumped slightly.

My heart suddenly started pounding so hard in my chest, probably from the start and surprise, that I could hear it in my ears. I spun around quickly to finally face Jason.

"Whoa, sorry about that," Jason apologized for scaring us. He smiled down at me with his cute dimple. Amazingly, the draw wasn't there anymore. Now that I knew Quil's feelings for me I no longer had any feelings for Jason. I was a little less nervous about our upcoming conversation. He tried to duck down for a kiss, but I cut him off by over exaggerating on how much he startled me. Can you imagine me going back to Quil with Jason's scent on my face? Not good.

"Oh wow, it's ok," I let out a breathy giggle while clutching my chest, totally avoiding Jason's kiss-greeting. I started to head towards my next classroom. "Sorry, I'm going to be late for class. I need to finish up two questions on my homework really quick before I hand it in."

"Oh, ok." Jason smiled dropped.

"Wanna eat lunch in your car today?" I asked him. "It's actually kind of nice outside." Jason's smile was back twofold. He was probably thinking I wanted to fool around. I fought an eye roll.

"Yeah, sounds great!"

I saw Karla behind Jason biting her lip and trying not to laugh and shaking her head as if to say 'Poor kid, doesn't know what's coming.'

With my brown-bag lunch gripped in my hand I leaned against Jason's car waiting for him to join me. My PB&J didn't sound a bit appetizing knowing I would probably just have to run to the bathroom if I ate it anyway. God I was nervous! My stomach was doing flips and my leg wouldn't stop shaking. Not only was I nervous, but I was scared of Jason's reaction. I didn't think he would get angry and mean – he didn't seem like the type – but I was afraid of hurting him. Really afraid. Jason's such a nice guy, even if he's a big horn-ball.

Finally Jason appeared from the double doors and walked towards the parking lot. He didn't see me yet so I pulled in a deep breath to help calm my anxiety. By the time I had exhaled completely Jason's eyes caught mine. The biggest smile beamed on his face and my nerves were suddenly back. Shit balls. This was going to suck, royally. I plastered on a fake smile in return, hoping it didn't look fake. I turned my back towards Jason so I could immediately get into his car when he unlocked the car with the remote on his keychain. My body positioning also helped avoid a full on smooch from Jason, instead his lips landed on my cheek. I was going to have to make sure I washed that off in the bathroom before going home.

"Hey! No lunch?" I asked once I noticed his hands were empty.

"Nah, I figured I'd rather spend time with you," He replied as we settled into his car. Jason moved in closer to me and his hand instantly went for my thigh. Maybe talking in the privacy of Jason's car wasn't such a good idea. I figured I would give him the dignity of being dumped in private. I didn't want to be fondled.

"You can have my lunch," I blurted out and pushed my brown bag towards him. The hand going for my thigh reacted and grabbed the bag from me. "You can eat while we talk."

"Thanks, but I didn't want to talk," Jason said with the smirk on his face that may have sent a thrill through me before, but now just creeped me out a little.

Jason leaned towards me and his hand went for my thigh again, but I firmly grabbed it, held it for a second, and sat it back in his lap with a small smile.

"Jason, we need to talk." I said seriously, without trying to look too serious. _Just out with it Claire. You don't need to drag it out._

"Ok," Jason said. From the look on his face my rejection stung a little. He took a bite out of my sandwich. "Oh, how's your sister by the way?"

'_By the way'? _Like it's an afterthought…after he _thought_ about putting his hands all over me. For some reason his question made me angry and brave. I didn't even answer his question.

"Jason, I can't see you anymore," I blurted out. Jason stopped chewing and looked up at me startled.

"What? Why?" he muffled through a mouthful of peanut butter. There was a touch of hurt in his eyes along with a lot of disbelief.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. I had to look away. I hadn't prepared a big speech or any type of answer. I didn't know how Jason would react, so I wasn't quite sure what kind of explanation to give. "I just don't like you like that."

"Well you sure seemed to like me like that the other night," Jason shot back. When I looked up at him his brows were furrowed and his lips were pressed together. All signs of the cute dimple were gone. I don't think I'd ever seen Jason mad before. I guess this was it.

"I'm sorry," I said again. "I was having fun, but things were moving too fast…I stopped it because it just didn't feel right. Sorry." I grabbed the handle to the car door to leave but continued to sit there. I didn't know what else to say. I wasn't sure if I was sticking around to hear his acceptance or just to torture myself. I used to like Jason enough to make out with him, but not anymore. Not now when I know I'm Quil's and Quil's mine.

"It felt right to me," Jason mumbled. "I'm sure everything would've been fine if that big beast of yours didn't show up."

"Quil's not a beast!" I suddenly became defensive of Quil like I usually do. "He didn't do anything. I stopped it before he even got there."

"Did he tell you to break up with me? Is that it?" Jason's face hardened. His eyes blazed towards me. I had never witnessed this expression before and a warning bell went off in my head. My hand instantly popped the passenger door open, not exactly opening it, but preparing to.

"No, he didn't tell me to break up with you," I replied. I kept my tone soft. I didn't want to upset Jason any further by yelling at him.

"Are you sure? Because every time I've ever seen him he looks like he wants to kick my ass." Jason humorlessly laughs with an eye roll and a head shake. I didn't confirm or deny anything. I just stared at Jason wondering where the jerk version of him came from. I realized I had another benefit of being an imprint. I never have to deal with boys ever again.

"I told you, you're _usually_ really nice, but I don't have those feelings for you."

"But you do for him. I see the way you look at him. The way he looks at you. I thought I was imagining things, but it all makes sense now." Jason nodded his head thoughtfully. He decided to blame Quil for our break-up even though I told him my reason. I decided to let him blame Quil since it was partially true and he wasn't listening to me anyway.

"I'm sorry Jason," I said one more time and lifted myself out of the car.

"Fuckin' tease," was the last thing Jason said to me. I stood frozen outside the car holding onto the passenger door. I felt a rush of pain slash through my chest. I'm not sure why that comment hurt me so much. Maybe it was guilt for leading Jason on or hurting his feelings? Maybe it was because I didn't expect Jason to be so cruel.

Once I composed myself I slammed the car door and walked away.

There was no way I was going back to school. I didn't care if I got in trouble. I'd call my mom and ask her to excuse me. She would understand. I only needed one thing at that moment and I knew where to find him.

* * *

Several emotions flooded my brain and my body during the walk to Quil's house. First, I was hurt. Jason's words hurt my feelings terribly. I didn't mean to tease him. I didn't know what I was doing. I've never dated anyone before. I thought I gave him every indication that he was moving too fast for me. Geez, we've only been going out a couple of weeks. Do other girls give it up that easily?

Then I got pissed. I quickened my pace and slung my book bag across my shoulders so that I could pump my arms faster. _How dare he call mea tease!_ Jason was the one who dragged me out of the hallway and into the bedroom at Marshal's house. He was the one who pinned me into the door and started kissing me and touching me and started the whole thing!

Funny enough, being angry is what brought on the tears. Once the tears started to flow the self-pity started in. No wonder no one ever asked me out before. I probably sent out that prudish vibe. I wasn't popular in school because I didn't fall into the slutty teenager category. I shouldn't care about what others at school thought about me. I never had before. But after hearing Jason, whom I thought actually liked me, say those words in that sneering tone, I realized I did care.

Still weeping and sniffling, I entered Quil's home. Quil patrolled late the prior evening so I assumed he would be sleeping. Quil sleeps like the dead so I knew he wouldn't hear me come in. I was right. Quil was spread out on his back with one arm under his pillow and his blanket barely covering his naked body. His shorts were piled on the floor next to the bed. His entire body was so refined I couldn't help but stand there and stare. I took advantage of Quil's unconsciousness. I'd almost willed the blanket to move down his waist further towards his thighs to reveal what I've never seen of him before. It's pretty much the _only_ part of him I hadn't seen before. I guess I could've gone over there and lifted up the blanket since Quil wouldn't know what was going on, but that sounded too naughty. I'm sure Quil wouldn't be happy about it either if I did get caught after our conversation about him not being ready for anything sexual yet.

I took a few more minutes to stare while I could. I felt much better. Quil's presence made me feel better. My emotions were back to not caring what people thought of me because I had Quil and as long as I did, everything would be perfect.

After I got an eye-full and my emotions were back in check, I chucked my book bag to the floor, pulled off my shoes, and climbed into bed with Quil. I was exhausted from being so emotional. Mindful of Quil's nakedness, I shifted the blanket up his torso more, crawled on top of the blankets, and curled into his side. Quil's arm instinctively wrapped around me and pulled me closer.

"I love you Claire," Quil mumbled in his sleep.

Yep, I felt much better.

**A/N: Well hello there! Did you miss me? (Or this story, rather) Please let me know what you think? I have the next chapter about 1/2 written. I will try to post ASAP.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hola! Better late than never, huh? **

Chapter 20

There are times when your dreams seem so real and all the emotions are brought back with you in the real world when you wake up. It can be so overwhelming at times and you can't believe what happened wasn't really real. Like when you're arguing with your mom about something stupid in your dream and you are so angry. But, when you wake up, you realize it didn't really happen and you shouldn't feel such anger towards your mother, but you still do and you can't shake it off.

Then there are times when you are dreaming and while you are sleeping the real world seeps into your mind and acts it out with your body. Like when you talk in your sleep or when the song on the radio into your room shows up in your dream and alters it somehow.

And sometimes you wake up from a perfectly restful sleep and you find your body doing its own thing and you're not exactly sure how those actions got started.

My body was practically singing with pleasure. Quiet moans filled the room and I realized those sounds were coming from me. _What the hell is going on?_ I felt the quick rise and fall of my chest and a warm surge through my body caused by some unknown stimulant.

Quil.

_I must be dreaming._

Quil's hot mouth nuzzled behind the shell of my ear. Occasionally, he licked my earlobe. Quil's strong arm wrapped around my waist and pinned my back to his chest. His hand gently squeezed my breast as his thumb grazed my nipple through the thin fabric of my bra and I hummed. _Quil's hand is under my shirt._ That move brought me totally out of my sleep-induced haze. I wasn't dreaming and slightly embarrassed by the sounds I made. The sounds seemed to encourage Quil to continue. It felt really good and I didn't want him to stop.

My arm reached back and grabbed the back of Quil's thigh. It was so hard and muscular that I didn't really grab it, so much as press my fingers into his flesh. A thin blanket still draped over Quil's waist and my jeans separated us from too much skin contact, but I could feel the extreme head and hardness from his erection pressing into my behind. When I pressed into his thigh with my hand, Quil rocked his hips into me harder squeezing me tighter around the waist.

I don't know why, but I never thought of Quil having an erection. He's a man, yes, I know. And, I know how sex works. I've fantasized about having sex with him, but it was mostly about touching and kissing, not about how the whole penis was involved in the act. But there it was, pressing and rocking into my bottom while he was breathing heavily into my ear and groping my chest.

I'm not sure what came over him. What changed his mind about his rules? He was so serious about the "kissing only until you're eighteen" rule that I thought it would take much longer for him to cave. I would take what I could get. If Quil wanted to rub up against me I was totally ok with that.

Then it dawned on me. That type of behavior didn't sound like Quil at all. Granted, I'd never done anything but kiss him, but I knew he would be more attentive with me than just grabbing my boob. I imagined Quil being romantic and very respectful at first and then maybe the groping and aggressiveness would come later.

Quil was fondling me in his sleep.

"Quil," I whispered. When he heard me say his name he growled and grabbed me tighter.

"Hmmm…Claire," he whispered in my ear. A shiver went through my body.

_Why am I trying to wake him up? This is awesome._ Because, he would be pissed with himself if anything else happened. That's why.

I pulled on Quil's arm to release the grip on me and slowly rotated my body to face his. Quil's eyes were closed but his arms still reached for me. He definitely was sleeping. His brows furrowed like he was disappointed from the loss of his hold on me. That made me smile.

Gently, I placed my hand on his face and rubbed his cheek. I tried not to startle him out of his sleep. I had heard doing that was bad.

"Quil," I whispered again. My touch sparked something in him and quickly he was on top of me pressing me into the mattress and attacking my mouth with his.

I squeaked and gripped Quil's shoulders.

Quil's eyes slowly opened but his body continued its movement. I kissed back, taking advantage of this moment because I knew it wouldn't last long once he became totally conscious and grasped the situation. I watched his eyes shift from a sleepy haze, to dark lust, to recognition of what was happening. His mouth slowed down too. He pulled back a little between each kiss and his eyes skimmed my face. Too soon he stopped and just stared at me with confusion written across his face. I smiled a lazily in return.

"Claire-Bear?"

"I need to sneak into your bed more often," I teased.

As soon as Quil heard my voice, he slid off me. In one instant the hardness of Quil's body was pressing me into the mattress and the next it was gone. For a moment my feelings were crushed a little, but I knew he thought he had been dreaming. Then I felt better because I knew he was dreaming of me. He had said my name. His heat was gone and the surge of our connection dimmed from the lack of skin contact. The air was cold around me, but my body's reaction from his touch kept me warm. I wanted Quil's weight on top of me again, but I didn't want to scare him away by pulling him back.

Quil sat next to me on the bed rubbing his face with the heel of his hands. His eyes wouldn't meet mine and when he looked down at himself he saw he was naked. He swiftly made sure nothing inappropriate was showing under his blanket. His face pinched together, finally realizing what just happened, and he ran a hand through his hair.

"God, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," he whispered with a groan.

"Why did you stop?" I asked shyly.

"Claire, you know why I stopped." He's right, I did know, but I didn't have to like it. "What were you doing? I told you we shouldn't rush into anything." He said quietly. Now Quil was blaming me?

"Wait a second," I replied and held up one finger. "I'm not the one who started it. I was sleeping, minding my own business, and you were all up in my neck and grabbing my boob." My smile was smug, I tried to hold it back, but I couldn't help it.

Quil practically gasped, "I did _not_ grab your boob!"

Quil really didn't remember a lot of what had just happened. I decided to have a little fun with it. I giggled and brought my arms behind my head.

"Yeah," I giggled. "You did. Aaaannnd…you were grinding that," I pointed between Quil's leg and circled my finger in the air, "into my butt cheek." I returned my arm back behind my head.

Quil looked horrified. "Claire, stop it. I wouldn't do that."

"I'm not lying and you can tell if I am." He stared at me for a moment and decided I was telling the truth. His shoulders slouched in defeat. I wouldn't let him think this was a bad thing. I didn't want him to hate himself over it. What's the big deal? It's not like we aren't going to mess around some day.

"Don't freak out Quil. It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal Claire. I shouldn't have done that to you.

"So…what were you dreaming about Quil?" I asked sweetly. It was obvious what he was dreaming about. Quil's eyes snapped to mine and narrowed. He didn't answer. "Was it about me?" I asked with a teasing smile. I actually witnessed Quil's cheeks turn red. He didn't answer but he didn't have to. He hung his head a little and rubbed his neck. "You totally were!" I laughed.

I climbed up on my knees on the bed and bounced a little with excitement making the bed squeak similar to what it sounded like only moments before. I loved teasing Quil when I found something that would get to him. Even if it meant talking about what he did to me.

"Where are my shorts?" He ignored me and had to reach in front of me to pick his shorts up from the floor. His bare bottom flashed in front of me so I had to slap it.

"Claire!" Quil scolded as he tried to cover himself up again, but it only made me laugh.

"Do you dream of me often? 'Cause it sure felt like you've dreamt of that before."

"Claire," he tried to interrupt me but I was having too much fun watching his face flush.

"You've got a thing for my boobs don't ya? Because your hands were all over them squeezing and rubbin…" Quil cut off my teasing with a warm sloppy kiss on my lips that made my legs turn to jelly. If it wasn't for his hands on either side of my face, I would've fallen face-forward on the bed.

When he was satisfied he had successfully shut me up, Quil pulled his mouth away from mine and looked in my eyes.

"Shut up," Quil said softly. The grin on his face told me he knew he had won.

"That's not fair," I said. He could use his kisses against me like a weapon. Quil let go of my face and I slowly melted into the bed, lying on my side.

"It worked, didn't it?" Quil chuckled. I hummed. I couldn't do much else. I watched from the bed as Quil moved around the room. "So what are you doing here anyway?" He asked after a quick glance at the clock. I should've been in school.

I remembered why I was there. The words Jason had said hurt me enough to lead me to Quil's comfort. Quil's comfort worked. I was in a much better mood.

"I came over after lunch," I replied with a shrug, hoping he wouldn't press the issue.

"You ditched? Why?" He walked around the room looking for his shoes.

"I called my mom on the walk over and asked her to call the school." I answered.

"Why?" He asked again from the floor, looking under his bed for the missing shoe. Quil wasn't letting me off the hook.

"Quil, do you think I'm a tease?" I asked without looking at him. Quil stopped what he was doing and I could feel him looking at me.

"No Claire-Bear," he said almost apologetically. "I didn't know what was going on. I was confused…" he trailed off. I stared at him a moment trying to figure out what he was talking about and realized he was referring to what happened between us only moments ago.

"No, not that." I replied. "It's just…oh…never mind. I just wanted to see you. That's why I came over."

Quil's gaze burned across my face and I could tell he was trying to read it. "What going on Claire?"

I knew I would feel better once I told Quil what had happened, but in a way I felt embarrassed that someone had such an opinion of me. Even if that someone was not the man I was in love with.

"I talked to Jason at lunch today," I said softly. I quickly darted my eyes towards Quil. His eyes were intense and a bit frightening. He must've connected my question about being a tease with my conversation with Jason.

"He called you a tease?" Quil grounded through his teeth.

"He didn't say that exactly."

"What. Did. He. Say?" Quil asked. He looked scary. I wasn't scared of him, but Jason should be.

I couldn't lie to him. I never could. But I knew I was about to repeat Jason's words, my eyes started to water. I felt so stupid for letting Jason's words affect me so badly. I sighed and looked everywhere but into Quil's fierce gaze.

"He called me a _fucking_ tease," I whispered.

The instant the words were out of my mouth Quil let out a low menacing growl. It wasn't the growl I liked; the fun growl. It was the I-want-to-break-something growl. He started to pace the room. His movements were jerky and his hands were fisted at his side.

"Quil, it's not a big deal." I lied.

"Then why are you crying?" Quil said through gritted teeth.

"I'm not crying," I said as I swiped a stray tear from my cheek. "I guess I didn't expect it from him. It just kind of hurt my feelings." I mumbled.

"I warned you." He reminded me softly. Yes, he had. Quil warned me about Jason and the rumors he had heard about how he dumped girls who didn't give him what he wanted. But it never got to that point with Jason. I was the one who dumped Jason. Would he have broken up with me if I continued to deny him?

"I didn't even do anything," I explained with a sniff. Quil stopped his pacing and sat next to me on the bed, wrapping his arm around me. "All I did was kiss him. I stopped when he wanted to go further." I immediately stiffened when I realized what I had said. Is that the definition of a tease? Plus, I had never told Quil what happened with Jason at Marshal's house. Quil did smell Jason's scent all over my neck. I assumed he knew there was possibly a little more than kissing involved.

I heard Quil let out a deep sigh to calm himself. Our physical contact seemed to do the trick. It definitely helped me relax.

"He's an ass," Quil said while squeezing my shoulders.

"Do you think I'm a tease?" I asked again carefully, knowing all too well that I've tried to push Quil's boundaries lately. I wasn't trying to tease Quil because I would give him whatever he wanted.

Quil seemed to think about his answer for a moment. I started to feel ashamed wondering what he was about to say.

"You're a…a temptress," Quil snickered. "God, that sounds like something out of one of my mom's romance novels." I gave him a weird look, not sure what the hell he was talking about. Quil noticed and snickered again.

His comment made me blush. It was a little cheesy, but it made me feel sexy all the same.

"What I mean is," Quil says hesitantly, "You're a beautiful young woman Claire. You certainly don't look almost seventeen. Boys are going to be a little curious when you have things the other girls don't."

"You're just saying that because I'm your imprint and you're pretty much stuck with me." I mumbled looking down at my lap. His words embarrassed me so I tried to make a joke out of them.

"Hey, it's true," he said. Quil's finger lifted my chin up so he could look me in the eyes. "Do you think I would have all these conflicting thoughts about you if you didn't tempt me so much?"

I shrugged. "I don't mean to tease anyone."

"You don't! You don't get how beautiful you are. Part of what makes you such a beautiful person is that you don't even realize it. You don't walk around like Katie or any of those other girls who know they're pretty. You don't have that attitude and that makes you sexy as hell."

I tried to look down at my lap again, but he wouldn't let me. Instead I blushed.

"If some punk kid misinterprets your actions or your attraction as teasing, then he's a friggin' idiot. Do you know how many times I've had to give Brady a beat down after the thoughts of you I've heard in his head?"

"No!" I replied in shock. "What did he say?"

"He didn't _say_ anything, but his thoughts were bad enough." Quil said with disgust. "He's always checking you out." Quil rubbed his face.

"He checks me out?" I asked with a goofy grin. Quil rolled his eyes and growled under his breath. In some ways I was flattered. Brady is never seen with the same girl twice and the girls are always very beautiful. A lot of women were attracted to the wolves, but only few wolves take advantage of their good looks. I only found out recently it was because they hadn't imprinted. Brady was definitely one of those wolves who took advantage of it.

"I'm sorry that punk kid made you feel bad. You shouldn't let him get to you." Quil continued and it was clear he wouldn't elaborate on Brady.

"I know. It's just going to be weird at school."

"Want me to kick his ass?" Quil asked with a smirk. I knew he was half-kidding, but he would totally kick Jason's ass if I asked him to.

"Nah, that's alright. You don't have to." I smiled back.

"Ok, just let me know." Quil kissed my cheek and grabbed my hand. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat."

"Wait." I held his hand to keep him sitting next to me. "What was so wrong with what we just did?"

"Claire," Quil threw his head back with a sigh. I'm sure he thought he would get away with not talking about what had happened.

"It was…nice." I shrugged shyly. "I liked it. Didn't you?"

"Claire," he whispered and rubbed his face. "I can't."

"I still don't see what the big deal is."

"It is a big deal. You're too young."

"But I'm not! Girls my age do that stuff all the time and most of the time they're with jerks who take advantage of them for their own hormonal benefits." I explained. I had thought a lot about this. "We're going to be together forever and I _know_ you're not thinking the same things guys my age are thinking."

"How do you know that?" Quil's voice was husky. My eyebrows shot up. I wasn't expecting that response.

"Do you?" I asked him, trying to hide my smile.

"I was just dreaming about you wasn't I?" He answered with a pointed look. "And we weren't baking cookies." I smiled.

"So…" I continued. "What's wrong with a little more than kissing?"

"I'd just be tempted to do more," Quil tried to explain with an anguished expression. "I'm just as inexperienced as you are so I may as well be that horny teenage boy that tried to get in your pants." Quil let out a frustrated groan. "Plus, I told you. Your father pretty much threatened me with jail time if I were to…you know…_take your virginity_." He said uncomfortably.

"Well…" I thought I should just tell him what I was thinking earlier while he was grinding himself into me. "To be honest the idea of _that_ kind of makes me nervous." I mumbled, but I knew he heard me.

"See, just another reason we shouldn't move too fast."

"No!" I said quickly. "I wanted you to know so you knew I wouldn't push you for that. Not for a while anyway."

"Yeah, the thought makes me nervous too," he admitted. I looked up at him surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said shyly.

"So we could just practice then," I teased. Quil shook his head and laughed.

"We'll see Claire," he said and playfully pushed my head. He mumbled something I didn't quite catch. "Come on. Let's go eat. I'm starving."

**a/n: I got stalked by gracefish21 asking me where this chapter was so you can thank her for getting my butt in gear. :) I re-wrote this chapter a couple times. I wanted it a certain way so hopefully Q&C transitioned well enough in this chapter. Please let me know what you think. I love hearing from you. And if I'm taking too long for the next chapter then send me a quick PM and ask me "what's going on!" **

**Up next: Wolf-Girl bonding!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Wolf-Girl recap! **

**Other than the original girls you know and love, here is a recap of the imprints in my world (if you haven't read my other stories, check them out. They may take your mind off waiting forever for updates on this story! ****):**

**Tala – Seth's imprint (from Power of an Imprint)**

**Abby – Embry's imprint (from The Protector)**

**Ashley – Collin's imprint (mentioned in The Protector)**

Chapter 21

"Are the kids home?" I asked Aunt Emily as we approached the front door of the home she and Uncle Sam owned on the mountain. I swore I could hear giggling and "shushing" coming from inside the dark house.

"What? No," Emily answered nervously as she tried to put her key in the deadbolt. "Sam and the boys went over to Seth and Tala's to hang out."

I peeked around Emily to catch a glimpse through the narrow window next to the door and thought I saw a dark figure flash in front of the window.

"Is there someone in there?" I asked. Emily rolled her eyes and pushed her way into the house.

"Surprise!" I was assaulted by the house lights all coming on at once and a loud group of people shouting. I stood there shocked and confused.

"You guys can't keep quiet for nothin'! I gave you a heads-up." Emily scolded the group, but still had a smile on her face. "We both heard you all before we got to the door."

"What's going on? My birthday party isn't until next week." I looked around the room and noticed the group was made up of all the women from the pack, or what we liked to refer to as the "Wolf Girls." As I recently found out, they were all imprints of the wolves.

"Well, since you officially know about imprinting we thought we would throw you an official 'welcome to the Wolf Girls' celebration." Emily explained.

"I'm not an official Wolf Girl, but I am a girl-wolf so I get to be included too," Leah said as she gave me a quick hug. I smiled because I had always considered her a Wolf Girl anyway.

"And, since your birthday _is_ coming up we wanted to give you gifts as well, but they wouldn't be really appropriate for your party with all the families." Kim continued.

"What do you mean?" I asked skeptically.

"Come, sit and we'll explain," Abby Call patted the spot next to her on the sofa eagerly. "We have stuff we want to explain and maybe help you out with."

"O…okaaay…" I replied and slowly made my way to sit next to Abby. All eyes were on me and they were making me nervous.

"I'm late!" Renesseme Cullen Black came bursting through the front door. It looked like she had run to Emily's house. She probably did since she was half-vampire and running for her, was usually faster than driving in a car. Nessie ran all the time and loved it. "I told Jake we should've taken my car 'cause it was faster. We drove his piece of crap from our house to Grandpa Charlie's." She complained as she tried to tame her copper curls. I smiled at her frustration. She inherited her love for speed from her vampire family.

"Ness!" I jumped up and ran to her for a hug. It had been so long since I'd seen her last. "You came all this way for this?"

"Yeppers! Jake and I are staying until after your birthday. So we'll be here for that too!" She squealed in reply. Nessie was very much a girly-girl. She was always wearing the most beautiful jewelry and her clothes were perfect. She and my sister Katie always got along very well.

I rejoined the group and someone handed me a plate of my favorite snacks. I looked around the room and noticed they had decorated Emily's house with gaudy wolf decorations and goofy novelty werewolf items. It looked like they were throwing a bachelorette party for me. There were even some gifts wrapped next to the food table. I knew the decorations were supposed to be silly because the Wolf Girls knew how to throw a party and everything was usually so beautiful. It was obvious this party was not supposed to be taken seriously.

We spent about an hour eating and getting caught up with Nessie. She explained what her family was up to and everyone took their turn filling her in with their own family updates.

"I'm so excited to see everyone! But even more excited to get this party started," Nessie eyed me. "Emily, what do you girls have in store for our Claire-Bear tonight?" _Uh oh. _Emily was flitting around the room picking up plates and refilling drinks like the perfect hostess she was.

"Well, we thought we would go around the room and tell Claire about our imprint stories so she can compare." Emily explained. My eyes darted back and forth between Leah and Emily remembering the story Quil told me. Since I didn't know the story behind the three of them until recently, I never had a reason to think the two of them would be uncomfortable around each other. Maybe talking about Emily's imprint was a sore subject. But it seemed they weren't bothered by what had happened with the three of them way back when.

"Aunt Em, you don't have to tell your story. Quil told me already," I said quietly as I eyed my aunt and Leah. Emily stood next to Leah and must have interpreted my concern for Leah and lightly gave Leah a one-armed hug.

"Ok, we can skip that one," she said with a smile. Leah looked at Emily and smiled back. It wasn't a sad smile, it was more like they were remembering the good old days.

"Me first!" Nessie bounced in her seat next to me. A couple people giggled but no one objected as they settled into their seats for the story.

"Ok, as you know I remember my birth vividly," Nessie started.

"Gross," Tala murmured.

"Freak," Leah heckled from across the room and the other ladies laughed.

"Shut up," Nessie said with a smirk. Apparently this was the usual response whenever she started to tell this particular story.

"The first face I see is my dad's. It was all bloody because he had to tear me out of my mom's womb…"

"Ness please, spare us the gory details," Leah complained with a shudder. "You're bringing up bad visuals!" I remember hearing that every one of the wolves can recall Nessie's birth because Jake was there and then he happened to share it with the wolves while their minds were connected.

"Sorry. Ok, so Dad's face…bloody, Mom's face…sweaty and practically dead," Nessie said quickly, her hands mimed wildly and her face was animated to match her words. "Then Aunt Rose was so beautiful and she held me while I snuggled into her hair. Then I could feel a presence walking towards me and it felt so good and loving. Even when I looked up at Jake through Rosalie's hair I saw Jake's eyes looking at me with a hateful glare that lasted only a moment," Nessie paused with a snap of her fingers. "But I still smiled back at him. He tells me he was setting out to kill me because he thought I was a demon baby, but once he saw me smile at him with my big, brown eyes staring back, he was a goner." Nessie sat back and smiled with satisfaction when she ended her story.

"So, it happened when you were a baby too?" I asked.

"Yes, it always happens the first time they see their mate after their first change." Emily answered.

"Do you remember what I told you on the phone?" Nessie asked. "How you and I have very similar relationships with our wolves?" I nodded, finally realizing what she was referring to.

One by one each Wolf Girl told their story. Jared and Kim imprinted during class in high school. Jared had never paid any attention to Kim before that day, but Kim had a huge crush on Jared and was thrilled when it happened. Tala and Seth imprinted at the scene of a car accident Tala was involved in. She good-humoredly blamed Seth for making her crash into a tree after seeing his massive wolf form in the trees. Ashley and Collin met on the beach and have been practically inseparable since. Embry imprinted on Abby at her work while Embry was picking up Tala's and Seth's daughter Vanessa as a favor to Tala. Abby was Vanessa's preschool teacher. Rachel came home from college to visit her family and Paul imprinted on her. Rachel had always thought Paul was so annoying, but changed her mind after that first visit home since the wolves all went through their first change. Jake, being Rachel's brother, was not too pleased.

All the stories sounded similar. There was a strong draw towards the other person like an imaginary cord binding the couple together. I felt like I missed out on that part since Quil's imprint happened when I was only two. I didn't feel that love at first sight feeling as the others did. But I've known all along Quil and I had a special bond, I just never quite knew until recently what that bond was. Most of them, except for Nessie and Jake, fell instantly in love with strangers or people they hadn't ever given a second glance to. And now they were all still so much in love. I was lucky to have great relationship examples around me, especially since my parents' relationship couldn't survive through their hard times.

"Now don't think just because we've found our perfect match means we all have perfect relationships," Rachel added.

"Well, except for maybe Kim," Ashley interrupted and everyone nodded or murmured in agreement.

"You all are just jealous that _I_ got the perfect one," Kim smirked teasingly.

"Anyway!" Rachel continued, "Paul is hot-headed and stubborn and such a smart-ass! So that can be challenging, but on the other hand he's mostly sweet and adorable and very…" Rachel paused as she thought of the proper word she wanted to use, but several people beat her to it.

"Attentive?" Ashley offered.

"Worshipful?" Kim suggested with a sigh. I eyed her with a quirk of my eyebrow wondering where this was going.

"Generous?" Abby added with, what sounded like, a purr.

My eyes darted around the room and almost every woman had a satisfied, dreamy look in their eye. I looked at Leah for an explanation. She rolled her eyes and said, "I know _way _too much about my fellow wolves' sex lives."

And then my naïve little mind finally understood what the women were prattling on about.

"Uh-oh. Oh no," I groaned. "Is this why I'm here? You _all_ are going to have the sex talk with me?" I looked at Emily and lowered my voice. "I thought this was just going to be like, just you and Kim?" Emily smiled and shrugged one shoulder. I faced the group, "Look, Quil already gave me the sex talk so I'm good. I know how things work. We really don't have to do this."

"Quil gave you _the talk_?" Nessie asked. "That must have been interesting," she added with an eye roll, sipping her drink.

"It's more than a sex talk Claire," Emily replied. "It's more like a 'How to Handle Your Wolf' talk."

"How to handle my wolf?" I asked. I thought I had handled him well enough so far.

"Yes. There are things you really need to know since your relationship will inevitably become intimate." Emily smiled gleefully. I'm not sure how she was so comfortable talking about my future sex life. She's my aunt for crying out loud. At least my mom wasn't included. I groaned at what was coming next.

"How about we go through our gifts and explain each one," Tala offered. There were words of agreement from the others.

_Gifts, great. _I thought to myself. I was a little nervous to find out what type of gifts when along with 'handling my wolf'. My eyes followed Tala across the room as she reached under the food table to pull out a large square, flat, wrapped package. It didn't look too heavy since she seemed to handle it with ease.

"There are a few things the girls and I have figured out over the years and we thought it would be useful to you as well," Tala said with a smile and placed the box in front of me. I eyed the box and scanned the room. Everyone had a smirk on their face and I was actually afraid to open the box.

The wrapping paper was tiled with forest scenery that included small howling wolves under a full moon. "Cute." I said pointing to the paper. Tala snickered. Slowly, I pulled the tape off the side and pulled the paper back to reveal what was inside. My eyebrows knitted together.

"A box fan?" I asked. A couple of the girls laughed. "Thanks?"

"Yep. I'm sure you've noticed how warm Quil can be to sleep with," Tala said. I nodded and I could feel my face flush, even though I've only slept with Quil to actually sleep. Quil, and all the wolves were extra warm to begin with, but when Quil slept, he seemed to warm up a few degrees. "But, when things get a little heated…if you know what I mean…he will get extra hot…"

"And sweaty…" Abby added.

"Man, there's so much sweat…" Kim sighed while fanning herself with her hand.

"So," Tala continued, "A box fan will help you from having a heat stroke since I know your house or Quil's house does _not_ have air conditioning."

"Plus, it covers up any loud sounds!" Rachel added.

The room erupted in laughter as I felt my face become heated. I knew they weren't laughing at me, and they were actually trying to help, but it was still somewhat embarrassed. I thought about what happened between Quil and me in his bed and I remembered how warm he had become from just making out. I couldn't imagine how warm his body temperature would be if he put any exertion into it.

"Me next!" Emily jumped up and handed me her package. "Now, I know you know how to cook and I believe you'll be a wonderful chef one day with your own restaurant and everything, but you may need to know a thing or two for cooking for a group of wolves who eat like an army."

"Thank you Aunt Emily," I replied as my finger slid under the last bit of tape. Wrapped nicely in a beautiful three-ring binder were hand-printed recipe cards from Emily. There was even a tabbed section listed as "Quil's favorites."

"I made one for everyone here. They are the recipes I've gathered since I started cooking for everyone. The recipes have been altered to make enough to feed the whole pack as you can see," Emily explained with a smile and pointed to the "serves 30" on the bottom of one of the cards. "I even included blank cards you can fill out and slip in when you create your own recipes. I'm sure you know a few more favorites of Quil's that I'm not aware of."

"You'll have to share those too please," Rachel peeked around Emily to add.

"That's really awesome. Thank you," I smiled. It was a genuinely nice gift that I didn't have to feel embarrassed about and I was grateful for it after the box fan and the intentions behind it.

But then Nessie piped in. "Oh! Mine, mine, mine! Open mine next," she said as she thrust a flat clothes-sized box into my lap. I gently put the cookbook aside and tackled Nessie's gift. I looked around to see if anyone's face would give anything away, but they seemed to not know what was in the box.

I pushed away the pink glittery tissue paper inside and saw red satin material. I put on my bitch-face and looked at Nessie.

"Oh stop!" Nessie waved her hand at me. "Get it out and hold it up!"

With a sigh, I slowly pulled out the soft material and held it up to the room. It looked like a nightie the size of a tank top, it was so short. There were a lot of murmurs of appreciation from some of the girls, but my Aunt Emily was not too pleased.

"Renesemee, she is sixteen years old," Emily scolded.

"Oh hush! She's practically seventeen and there's more! Dig in there," Nessie pointed to the box where sure enough, more material was inside. "See, there are shorts too. I made sure to get a cami that would cover those babies," she said and pointed to my boobs. "There won't be any cleavage at all, but it's long enough to cover your mid-drift. And the shorts aren't too short, but short enough to show off some leg," Nessie explained with a smug look towards Emily. Emily smiled and shook her head. There were more appreciative comments from the other ladies. "Plus, red looks beautiful with your tan skin and dark hair."

"Thank you, Ness." I smiled. It was really pretty, but I liked wearing my t-shirt and sweats to bed. Maybe someday I would wear it for Quil. The thought of it made me blush.

Kim was the next to present a gift. She handed me an envelope that seemed a little thick.

"This is from the rest of us. We all know Quil's feelings towards your relationship," Kim shrugged with a guilty smile, "You know how gossipy our pack can be. We know he's been struggling with the whole transition from being your lifetime friend to something more of a serious man-woman relationship. And it's been obvious that you've been ready for it since you were a pre-teen!"

"Was I that obvious?" I mumbled and I could feel my face warm up. Everyone in the room agreed with Kim. How embarrassing.

"We wanted to give you a little something to help you push him in the right direction and get him more comfortable with the idea of being your boyfriend…instead of just your friend," Kim continued. "Go ahead, open it."

I popped open the back flap of the envelope and pulled out a few paper items. One was a gift certificate for Bella Italia in Port Angeles. The others were tickets for the outdoor music festival in Port Angeles Quil had been talking about for the past month, but wasn't sure he could afford it. His favorite local band would be playing along with a few others.

"Oh my gosh you guys! This is so nice," I said with a catch in my throat. I could feel my eyes burn a little as I tried to hold back tears.

"Now _you_ can ask _him_ on a date instead of waiting for his confused butt to come around," Abby said with a smile.

"We know you two aren't ready for anything more quite yet, but you can at least get used to the dating idea," Ashley added.

"You know about that?" I asked.

"Unless you specifically say 'I don't want anyone else to know,' it's going to get around," Ashley replied.

I looked around the room at all the ladies who made up my huge family and smiled. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to be associated with. Everyone was always so thoughtful and we were all as close as sisters and I didn't care if they knew what happened between Quil and I. They would never judge and I knew they would all be there for me whenever I needed them because they understood my situation.

I wiped away the tear that escaped down my cheek and when I knew my voice wouldn't crack I thanked everyone. "Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate all this. I'm really glad you are all so supportive of us and it's nice to know you're all behind me."

There were hugs and sniffles and "welcome to the Wolf Girls!" around the room as everyone started to dig into the wolf shaped cake.

"Oh wait! There's one more gift," Leah pointed out. She tossed it towards me and I caught it one-handed since the other hand held my cake plate.

On the small folded up piece of wrapping paper that substituted for a card was a note from Leah. It said "To Claire, From Leah, Good Luck!" I ripped off the paper to reveal a box of Magnum condoms.

With wide eyes I looked up at Leah and said, "Magnum?"

"Honey, remember I've seen them all naked…and _you're_ gonna need 'em," Leah explained. The whole room erupted in squeals of laughter as my face burned brighter than it had all night.

**a/n: Ok, so it may be a little cliché to have Quil well endowed. I usually roll my eyes when I read about it in other fan fic, but please, did you really want to hear that he had a small one? Plus, it's funnier this way…at least in this chapter.**

**Please send me a review and let me know what you want to hear about next. I have a few events coming up, but I may take suggestions :) Thank you so much for hanging in there while I SLOWLY finish up this story. If you haven't read my other stories go ahead and check them out.**

**Have a great weekend!**

**Shelby (a.k.a. McKenna Black)**


	22. Chapter 22

**This is total filler and should really be an outtake, but I thought I would throw it in as a chapter since it's taking me FOREVER to finish this story (sorry). Those of you who comment that "they are so cute!" will hopefully like this chapter. I did. I warn you I haven't had anyone proof read it and it's short.**

Chapter 22

For some reason I thought becoming seventeen years old would make me seem more mature. I thought maybe Quil would notice my maturity and our relationship would change. But all that has already happened. He has noticed me and his feelings for me have been revealed but neither of those things matter right now and it's all because I'm _only_ seventeen. Our relationship hasn't changed that much. Even though Quil sees me as mature, apparently I'm not mature enough to have a serious relationship with him quite yet. Serious to him means sex.

"Good morning Claire-Bear," I hear Quil whisper in my ear, trying to wake me up. "Happy birthday!" I instantly sigh and a smile spreads across my face, but he doesn't see it because my face is smashed into my pillow. I continue to pretend I'm sleeping.

"Claire-Bear!" Quil whispers a little louder and rubs my back with his large hand. His touch sends a shiver down my spine and he knows I'm awake. He starts tickling my ribs and I can't help but squeal.

"Stop! I'm up, I'm up!" I say between gulps of air. Every year on my birthday, for as long as I can remember, we play the same game. This year it's different.

"Happy birthday," Quil says again with a sly smile on his face. I see his eyes dart to my lips.

"Thank you," I replied and smile in return. My eyes dart to Quil's lips and I watch as he lowers his face to mine for a quick kiss and then slowly pulls away with his eyes closed.

"I missed you," I told him. I had slept alone the previous night, but not without practically begging Quil on the phone to come over and spend the night. He had refused.

"I missed you, but you know me staying over is probably not a good idea right now. Not after the other morning," Quil said bashfully. I rolled my eyes.

Quil bent down for another kiss. I didn't care if I had morning breath, if he wanted to kiss me I would take all I could get. When I put my arms around him and tried to pull him closer he pushed himself away and gave me a knowing smirk.

"You need to get ready for school young lady," Quil said. I glared at him for his use of words and he laughed. When he turned around he noticed my gifts from the Wolf Girl's welcome party.

"What's this?" he asked and walked towards the dresser where the gifts sat.

"Some stuff the girls gave me, nothing much. Just funny things." I replied and tried to get to the smaller package before he saw it.

"A box fan?" he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. I didn't want to have to explain each gift so I shoved the cook book from Emily into his hands. It was safe.

"Emily made me that." I pointed to the book, now in his hands. "It has all your favorite recipes in there."

When Quil looked down and started flipping the pages I took advantage of his distraction and grabbed the bag with the condoms and tried to hide it behind my back. I don't think my movement was quick enough. I could see Quil's eyes shift a little and the corner of his mouth turned up slightly. I kept talking to keep the focus on the cookbook. I explained the empty pages and pockets and how I could add my own recipes.

"Wow, that's really cool. Oh yeah!" Something in the cookbook caught Quil's eye, "cranberry orange muffins. I _love_ those things." He flipped through a few more pages before he snapped the book shut and placed it on the dresser. He took a quick peek at the other items and nodded. He didn't ask me to explain anything else. "Is there anything else you want to show me?"

"What do you mean? I don't think so." I was such a bad liar. But then I remembered the tickets to the concert. "Oh yeah!" With one free hand and the other holding the small bag behind my back I fished out the concert tickets and restaurant certificate from the larger bag. Quil watched me try to maneuver with one hand and smirked. Damn wolf eyes. I don't think I was pulling anything past him, but maybe the concert would distract him while I got rid of the Magnum evidence.

"Some of the girls want me to take you on a date." I said and held out the envelope containing our vouchers.

"A date?" Quil asked with a smile and took the envelope.

"Yep. Quil, will you go out with me on a date? I'm paying!"

Quil opened up the envelope and he noticed the Bella Italia gift card first. "Nice!" He nodded appreciatively. Then when he pulled out the concert tickets his eyes lit up and his grin stretched out across his face. I took advantage and backed up to my bed and shoved the bag in my hands under my pillow.

"This is sweet! Cool. I'm going to have to thank them." I smiled because I knew how much he had wanted to buy tickets. "So cool." He read the names of the girls on the card and carefully put everything back in its place on my dresser. Quil looked up at me with a devious smile that made my heart race and started to stalk towards me. "So…we're going on a date, huh?"

I gulped and nodded. "Uh-huh," I said shakily. Quil approached me and placed both of his hands on either side of my face, kissing me lightly on the lips. I closed my eyes and could feel my body instantly start to melt. With his face still close to mine Quil's hands traced down my neck, shoulders, and arms then held onto my hands. While my eyes were closed, enjoying the sensation from his touch, I heard a crinkle of paper that made me heart flutter and my eyes pop open.

Quil was holding the paper bag with the Magnum condoms in front of my face. He was so quick and such a manipulator! He backed away from me slightly with a smile. I tried to snatch the bag out of his hands, but it was no use. He kept it right out of my reach.

"What did you not want me to see?"

"Nothing. It's just private. Like tampons and stuff," I lied, trying to throw him off by mentioning feminine hygiene products. I could see Quil take a sniff at the bag, possibly trying to sniff out cotton. Damn wolf nose.

"Like what? It smells like rubber…" Quil's eyes got wide once he said rubber, obviously figuring it out, and tore open the bag. I tried to stop him. He flipped over the box and read the cover. His face instantly blushed. I smiled because he was embarrassed. I didn't expect that reaction and covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile. I could see Quil was trying to figure out who gave them to me and then his expression turned into a snarl. "Leah," he whispered, which made me burst out laughing. I had no idea how he came to that conclusion. I could only imagine.

Now instead of my embarrassment it was Quil's. "What's wrong Quil? Shouldn't you be proud or something?" I giggled. "Aren't you flattered that Leah thinks you are in need of such _accommodations_?"

"No!" Quil threw the box on my night stand next to the bed and pulled me into a hug to kiss my head. I was still giggling. "Weren't you embarrassed to get these?" Quil knew I was extremely shy when talking about sex with anyone else besides him.

"Oh yeah, I was embarrassed as hell, but your reaction made me feel better. I wasn't expecting you to be embarrassed." I wrapped my arms around him and started to scratch his back lightly.

"What did you expect from me?" Quil's fingers were trying to straighten out my bed-head hair.

"I don't know. I thought you would get mad."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "I thought it would remind you of our whole no sex thing. I didn't want you to think I was trying to tempt you again." I whispered into his chest.

"I told you. You always tempt me," he growled and I felt a shiver shoot through me.

We stood there for a few moments longer as he brushed my hair with his fingers and I ran my nails lightly down his back. I felt him slowly grow hard and press up against my stomach. I smiled because I did that to him. I wondered what he was thinking or what I was doing that brought that reaction on.

"So, someday I'll get to see what the fuss is all about?" I asked.

"About what?" he replied in a throaty voice.

"About that," I clarified with a grind into his hardness. My actions were met with a groan and a warning.

"Claire," Quil gritted out through his teeth. I looked up at him with an innocent smile.

"What? Well you've got it pressing into me, what was I supposed to do, ignore it?" I fluttered my eye lashes at him.

Quil grabbed my face and kissed me hard. When he pushed away I had to sit on the bed because I lost my balance. He backed away from me and moved out the door pointing his finger at me and glaring with mock anger the entire time. It made me laugh.

"But it's my birthday!" I teased. "Quil, come back! Aren't you going to give me a present?"

"Get ready for school!" I heard him yell from the other room.

**A/N: Let me know what you think. I love hearing from you! **


	23. Chapter 23

**I know! I'm sorry! Have at it…**

Chapter 23.

"Have a nice birthday Claire-Bear," Quil grabbed my hand and gave it a quick kiss. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but we were in the parking lot at school. I didn't need anyone to see me making out with Quil in the car.

"Thanks. I'll try," I said wryly and pulled my hand away. "Same plan as usual?"

"Yep. Is that ok?" Quil asked.

I nodded my head and gave him a small smile even though I was slightly disappointed. Not that I didn't appreciate the recognition, but every member of the pack celebrated their birthdays similarly. We would all gather at the guest of honor's home, or the beach if it was nice, and everyone brought food and presents. Since our pack family is a large group, it seems we have parties all the time. They are fun, but nothing really special and I was hoping for extra-special on my seventeenth birthday. And, I was hoping to be alone with Quil.

As if he could read my thoughts, Quil replied, "Hey, we'll do our outing when we go to the concert."

"Oh, so I have to take _you_ out for _my_ birthday," I said with an amused smile.

"Yeah, I got out of it cheap!" Quil teased.

I had a huge smile when I left Quil's car and started to walk towards the school, but it immediately faltered when I saw Jason glaring at me from behind his car. I tried to ignore Jason's stare burning into the back of my head as I slid through the school's doors. I thought I could hear the distinct warning growl from Quil muted by his car windows. I looked back to give Quil a small wave, but he was glaring at Jason and didn't notice me. I said Quil's name loud enough for him to hear me and broke his gaze. When he looked up I gave him a small wave to say good-bye and dismiss him, letting him know I would be alright. He winked in return and slowly drove off. I sped into the school towards my locker.

"There's the birthday girl!" Karla said loudly when I approached our locker. She pulled out a card from her book bag and pushed it into my hands.

"Thanks!" I opened up the card and found a gift certificate to her mom's salon inside.

"Mom wants you to come in and get all that cut off," Karla said and pointed to my long hair. Karla's mom is a hair dresser and she doesn't appreciate my non-style, but she did constantly complimented how beautiful it was. She talked about all the things she could do to accent my facial features. She has wanted to get a hold of it for years. I've always told her I liked it long and straight, which isn't totally honest. I wouldn't mind cutting it but Quil likes it long and straight, so that's how I keep it. Karla's hair has always been cut in the latest style. Her mom uses her as a guinea pig.

"Plus," Karla continued, "There's enough on that certificate to get a mani or a pedi. That part's from me."

"Thank you! I can't wait to be pampered!"

"I thought we could have a spa day before your concert date with Quil."

"Sounds good!" I say after the school bell rang to start the day. "See you at lunch."

Once I turned away from my locker to head towards my first class I could feel a tickle on the back of my neck. I automatically reached up to touch my neck and looked slightly behind me, coming face to face with Jason. His expression made me gasp slightly and I quickly turn away. His glare looked more sad than angry. I couldn't tell if Jason had touched my neck or just knowing he was glowering at me made my neck hairs stand on end. Either way, I knew I wanted to avoid him for the day.

So far my birthday was going along pretty well. Luckily enough, my morning teachers hadn't handed out homework. I grabbed my lunch from my locker and headed towards the lunchroom to find Karla. I had hoped she would be there before me to avoid sitting by myself if Jason came along.

I noticed Karla and Marshal in the hot lunch line so I took a seat at our usual table, knowing they would join me shortly, but I still eyed the main entrance ready to bolt if I saw Jason.

Karla and Marshal were slowly walking my way and it looked like they were arguing. They both noticed I was at the table and immediately fell silent.

"Hey, Claire. Happy Birthday," Marshal smiled and sat down across from me as Karla slid in the seat beside me. Marshal started eating, but Karla gave him an exasperated look.

"Uh, thanks." I replied and eyed them both carefully. "Is everything alright?" When Marshal didn't answer Karla spoke up.

"I don't know Marshal, is it?"

Marshal sighed and took another bite of his taco. "I really think it's nothing, Karla." Marshal said with his mouthful.

"Just tell her…please." Karla changed her manner and begged. "She needs to know."

Marshal looked up at me and must have noticed my bewildered look. "I don't think it's a big deal, but Karla thinks you should know," Marshal started.

"Know what?"

"Jason told me how you two broke up."

"What do you mean 'how'?"

"He said he broke up with you because you were cheating on him with that Quil guy."

"What! I did _not_ cheat on Jason." _Well, not really._ "We never really declared ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend anyway."

"I told ya," Karla mumbled between bites of food.

"You didn't?" Marshal asked. "Cheat on him, I mean?"

"No!"

"Well, he said you two were messing around in his car at lunch and found a hickey on your…boob…that he knows _he_ didn't put it there. So he asked you and you said you were, uh," he stopped and glanced at Karla.

"Just tell her the exact words," Karla suggested.

"He said you admitted to 'fucking the cradle robbing bastard,' Quil." Marshal clarified as if I didn't know who he was talking about.

"I did not cheat on Jason and I am not 'fucking' Quil." Both statements true. "And you didn't think this was important to tell me?"

"Well, not really. He says shit about girls all the time when he gets rejected."

"That's not the important part," Karla motioned with her hand for him to keep talking as she finished up her rice.

"I was getting to it." Marshal replied to Karla and then turned to me again. "What Karla thinks is so important to mention is that Jason seems different this time. He seems angry.

"Yeah, he was angry!" I agreed. "He called me a nasty name as I left his car. Which, by the way, we were not messing around in and he did _not_ see a hickey on my boob."

"Well, he usually just blows things off and doesn't give it a second thought when he breaks it off with a girl. I thought maybe it was because you were cheating on him." I started to correct him but he beat me to it. "I mean, he _said _you were cheating on him. I don't blame him for thinking that way; you're always with that guy."

"That doesn't matter," Karla said to Marshal before I could come up with an excuse as to why I was always with Quil. I gave Karla a thankful look. "Jason doesn't need to be talking bad about her just because she dumped him. She had her reasons."

"Yeah, well, I think he really likes you and somehow it made it worse."

"Does he have a temper?" I asked, wondering if I ever noticed Jason losing it before.

"Oh, no! He'll be fine. I think maybe he thinks he can get you back." Marshal smiled.

"Not after the way he talked about me and the death stares I've been receiving."

"I'll talk to him," Marshal said after receiving a look from Karla.

"Thanks, but don't bother. I don't want him to think being nice to me is going to get me back. Hopefully he'll just cool down and we can at least talk to each other." Since Jason's best friend and my best friend were dating I didn't want to feel uncomfortable if we all happened to hang out.

I expected to walk down to the shop after school as usual, but Quil surprised me by picking me up. Once I saw his car in the parking lot I immediately rushed to get in, but Quil wasn't in the driver's seat. I looked up to search the parking lot and recognized his big, hulking form looming over someone next to Jason's car.

_Uh-oh._

I threw my bag in the car and rushed over to where Quil stood. Students started to trickle out of the school steadily and some noticed the scene at the south end of the lot. They kept getting in my way as I tried to rush to Quil before he did anything stupid. I could make out the slow rumble which was Quil's quiet, yet pissed, voice and the quivering voice of Jason. When I got closer I saw that Jason's face matched his voice. He looked scared, but was trying to act tough for the audience that started to collect around the two. Looking at Quil, I knew the reason for Jason's anxiety. Quil had on his fierce, murderous face. He stood at his full height, every muscle tense and ready to pounce. Quil's eyes were black with fury and I could detect a slight tremble in his body that told me he was trying to contain his wolf. It had been ages since I've seen him in this state. It was never towards me, but I was familiar with the signs. Quil was much older now and has had years to practice containing his wolf, so something must have really upset him to get him worked up this badly.

"What's going on?" I finally spoke with a slight tremble in my voice. I was afraid for Jason's safety and Quil's if Quil were to burst into his wolf form.

Quil must have heard the fear in my voice because I saw his concerned eyes flicker towards me and then back to Jason. I watched as his shoulders slacked a little and he took a step back from Jason. To calm Quil further, I ran my hand from his shoulder, down his arm and to his hand, dropping it after a quick squeeze. I wanted to continue holding it but not here in front of everyone. My touch seemed to ease Quil's tension even more because he had stopped trembling. I glanced at Jason and saw he noticed my touch.

"So, what's going on?" I asked again.

"Your little _ex_-boyfriend here said some nasty shit about you." Quil said through his teeth.

"That's bullshit! I didn't say anything. How would you even know? You were in your car across the parking lot."

I was positive Quil did hear whatever Jason said. Quil could hear a cricket in the woods a half mile away. Quil's head slowly turned to the side and faced a petrified junior, Will, who watched the scene with wide eyes.

"You were with him," Quil spoke to Will. "Was he talking about my Claire?" I felt a faint smile cross my lips at his choice of words.

"Um…I…I" Will stuttered.

"Just yes or no," Quil said slowly.

"Quil," I whispered and grabbed his hand again to warn him to not frighten Will too much. Will was the smallest seventeen-year-old I knew. Quil tried to give Will a non-threatening smile, but seemed to have the opposite effect.

"Y-yes," Will squeaked out his answer, which sounded like a question.

Quil's fierce eyes met Jason's again with a smug look just asking Jason to argue.

"So, I was right then?" Jason asked. When I looked at Jason I noticed he was talking to me. Jason's eyes flickered down to Quil's and my adjoined hands, but I held them together firmly and didn't let go. I was proud to be with Quil and I didn't care who knew, but mostly I was afraid Quil would lunge at Jason. Not that my small hand could hold Quil back.

"You're fucking him now?" Jason sneered.

"There's no fucking going on!" Quil yelled and a few people decided to step away, closer to the safety of their cars.

"Too bad for you," Jason mumbled. Was this guy an idiot? Did he not see the seething, massive man in front of him? Quil seemed to think the same thing and gave Jason a warning growl. Jason's eyes widened once he heard the unnatural sound.

"It doesn't matter, Quil. Come on. Let's go home." I pleaded and gave Quil's arm a little tug. Reluctantly, Quil turned away from Jason and walked with me towards his car. I held out my free hand in front of Quil, silently asking for the car keys, ignoring the hushed conversations erupting behind us. Quil did not drive well when he was upset. I was sure gossip tomorrow at school would be about Quil and me. I'm sure more than just Jason noticed that I held Quil's hand. And, I'm sure people noticed how Quil called me 'my Claire.'

The ride home was quiet. Quil's hand stilled squeezed mine as his thumb rubbed back and forth the top. I could tell he was focusing on calming himself down instead of wanting to talk about what had happened. I knew if we talked about Jason without Quil gaining his composure he would get all worked up again.

Once we arrived at my house I parked the car and faced Quil.

"What did he say that made you so upset?" I asked as I grabbed his free hand, trying to keep him calm. I hoped he had had enough time because I was really curious.

"It doesn't matter," Quil answered in a manner that told me he wouldn't repeat anything Jason said. I gave a frustrated sigh.

"Exactly. It doesn't. So, why were you so upset?"

"He doesn't need to be making up shit about you. I don't want people to think you're something you're not."

"You know I don't have a lot of school friends and the ones I do have, know who I am. I don't really care what others think about me…usually. Besides, I have a feeling people already know how Jason is. You did tell me you heard others talk about him."

"You didn't defend what he said about us," He said with a face I couldn't read.

"Did you want me to? Should I have?"

"No."

"I don't care what people think about us either. I love you and I don't care who knows. Eventually the nosey people out of the pack will know anyway."

"Yeah, but I'm so old and you're still in high school…"

"Who cares? They'll just think you're a dirty old man," I teased.

"I _am_ a dirty old man," he almost said shamefully.

"Hey! Stop that. I like that you're a dirty old man. As you well witnessed, teenage boys can be immature and stupid. I'd take old man any day. Even if he is dirty."

We continued to talk about what happened and how Quil struggled to keep his wolf in check. He mentioned how it helped when he felt me near and how my touch calmed him down. We talked until we were laughing at Will's terrified face and how we were sure if he ever ran into Quil again he would scream and run in the opposite direction.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked.

"Yeah. Sorry to ruin your birthday."

"You didn't ruin it. Give me a kiss and I'll forgive ya."

Quil smiled and leaned in for a chaste kiss, but I held his head close so he wouldn't move away.

"Thank you for trying to defend my honor."

"Always." Quil replied and I kissed him again until he kissed me back the way I liked it. He always seemed hesitant at first, but if I pushed a little, he gave in.

I'm not sure how long we were at it in Quil's car, but suddenly his car door flew open and my Dad's head popped in.

"Dad!" I startled.

"She's only seventeen!" he yelled.

"No shit, Jack! This is her birthday party." Quil growled as he unfolded himself from the car.

Dad had been staying at Sam and Emily's house while he was in town to see Katie. He ended up taking some extra time off to stay longer for my birthday. If he and Quil were going to continue to be at each other's throats, I would rather Dad just leave.

I got out of the car and grabbed my book bag from the back seat. Quil walked around the car and took the bag from me. I looked up and noticed several cars pulling into my driveway for my birthday party. Apparently Quil and I had been talking and kissing in the car for quite some time.

"Dad, you have no reason to have Quil arrested. We were only kissing," I said calmly and hooked my arm around Dad's waist. The action didn't seem to calm my Dad down as easily as it had Quil. Quil stood by us, not fazed by my Dad's fierce look at all. He looked more annoyed that he was going to have yet another conversation with Jack about dating his daughter.

"Please Dad," I whined. "Can you give him a break on my birthday? Besides he defended my honor today. That should count for something."

"What do you mean," Dad grunted.

"Some punk kid said shit about her, so I _nicely_ asked him not to," Quil spat out.

"Nicely," I scoffed under my breath.

"Ya did?" Dad asked Quil with an almost admiring look.

"Yeah." Quil answered and walked away to greet the rest of the pack as they pulled in the drive and exited their cars. When he was further away from my Dad and me, I looked up at Dad with one arm still around his waist.

"He takes care of me," I said. "He won't ever hurt me. Why can't you accept him?"

Dad looked down at me and sighed with a quick shake of his head. I could tell he knew what I said was true, but he still wasn't able to accept it. I don't think he wanted to accept it, even after all these years. He squeezed my shoulders and kissed my head before treading back to the house.

**a/n: Again, sorry for the long delay. I was totally obsessed with Harry Potter for the last couple of months. I started reading the books for the first time and couldn't stop. I know…I'm the last one on the planet I'm sure! Before I start another book I REALLY want to finish this story. I owe it to everyone waiting patiently (or not patiently). I promise I will finish it and not just end it, to end it.**

**Let me know what you think or how you would like the story to continue.**

**Someone mentioned about how the last chapter was kind of graphic. I was in a mood and the scene popped into my head. As you may know from my other stories, I don't write lemons…but I do write mature themes. I rated this 'M' because there may or may not be some intimacy, but I'm not going to write in graphic detail. If talking about Quil's private parts was too graphic, then good news…that's as graphic as I will get! ****If anything, I'll write about Claire's first time experiences with her sexuality and the emotions behind it, but that's about it. There won't be mentions of "plunging" or "quivering loins" or "wetness pooling in…" well you get the picture. That's not me.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello everyone! Let's get to it, shall we?**

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Chapter 24

"What's this?" I squeaked. My heart thumped loudly. Quil smirked. I'm sure the hammering in my chest gave my thoughts away.

"It's not what you think it is," he chuckled. How else was I supposed to interpret the small, black velvet box that sat in my hand? My first thought was that it was a ring. Well, that's not totally correct. My _very_ first thought was that it was an engagement ring. It only took a second to decide it wasn't. Quil barely felt comfortable with the boyfriend-girlfriend idea. There's not a chance he was even close to being comfortable with the husband-wife idea. I'm all over that idea, however, being a teen bride just didn't sit well either.

"Aren't you gonna open it?" Quil asked, interrupting my inner musing.

"Oh. Yeah." I replied and ripped away the remaining wrapping paper. When I opened up the box my mouth fell open with a quiet gasp. It was a ring, and it had diamonds, but it wasn't an engagement ring. It was a thick band made up of two thinner delicate bands intertwined. One of the bands gleamed chocolate brown while the other band was a total contrast of what seemed to be white gold. The white gold band had several small diamonds set throughout it.

It was beautiful.

I didn't say anything at first. I just pulled the ring out of the box and stared at it. Slowly, I moved it back and forth so that it caught the light, making the diamonds twinkle. I felt my face light up with a giddy smile. Of course, just like a stereotypical girl. Something pretty and shiny makes me smile. I was so glad Quil and I were alone in my room. I could almost imagine the gushing that would have come from the Wolf-Girls because of the pretty jewelry and the love-sick look on my face. A giggle escaped my lips.

"Does this mean you like it?" Quil asked carefully.

"I love it! It's so pretty," I replied enthusiastically. I was embarrassing myself really. But I couldn't help it. The smile I gave him felt like it would crack my face open. "Thank you!"

"Good," Quil said with a large sigh.

"Were you worried I wouldn't like it?"

"Well, not really, but it's kind've a serious thing, you know?" Quil said nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's like a promise ring?" I guessed.

"Yeah, I guess," Quil chuckled. "The whole imprint thing is a promise, but I thought you needed something tangible. You know, something you could touch and look at when we're not together."

I walked over on my knees to where Quil sat on my bed and put my arms around his neck.

"Thank you." I told him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I love it." I kissed him again on the neck. "I love you." I squeezed his neck and he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You're welcome."

We hung out in my room for a while longer deciding which finger I should wear my new ring on as he explained his meaning behind the gift. It turns out he found it a couple years ago and held onto it, deciding to give it to me on my seventeenth birthday, which was supposed to also be the day I found out about the imprint. He planned on it being a grand gesture. Well, that plan got blown out of the water.

Quil explained that the dark chocolate gold symbolized him in wolf form. The gold was pretty close to his fur color. The white gold band with diamonds symbolized me. He thought the way the bands intertwined signified how our lives have always intertwined and always will. It was perfect.

I ran out to the kitchen to show anyone who was left over from the party. Mom, Dad, Katie, and Rob were the only people who remained. Katie squealed the way she always did over girly jewelry. I looked over to my mom as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek. Apparently she saw the ring a year ago, but the idea behind it got her all emotional again. Quil informed me she cried and hugged him when he showed her the first time too.

My dad just huffed and ignored it when I held it up to show him. At least he didn't blow up at Quil again.

Rob watched the scene, but didn't say much. He eyed Quil curiously and I'm sure he thought Quil giving me a ring was highly unusual, possibly inappropriate, especially after the reaction from Katie and my mom. No one made mention of the meaning of the ring in front of Rob, but everyone else knew what it meant. I wondered how long Katie could keep the wolves and the imprint from Rob. I wondered how much he noticed between Quil and me and if Katie had told him anything. If Rob was going to hang around more often, we would have to be more careful with what we said and did. If Rob was going to be around permanently, we would probably have to tell him about the wolves. Sam, being the alpha would have to grant us permission first, of course.

The next few days were just…weird. A lot of things were out of the ordinary, but not necessarily in a bad way. Well, maybe some of it was.

The kids at school had a sudden interest in me. I received a lot of stares that were often followed by whispers, probably gossip, to their friend closest to them. For me to go from a wallflower to someone receiving too much attention was a little disconcerting. I knew what everyone was talking about. It wasn't hard to figure out after what happened on my birthday in the school parking lot. Karla even verified it, telling me she had to set a freshman straight when she overheard the girl telling her friend that I cheated on Jason with a fifty-year-old man. So to many of my school mates I was known as a cheater who messed around with pervy old men. I'm not even sure how the "old man" rumors started. Several people saw Quil. He's thirty, but he looks much younger than that. Yes, he's older, but not an old man, but I know most people tend to exaggerate or make things sound worse in the rumor mill. It would have sounded better, maybe even cooler, if people said that I was dating a college man.

At home my dad was around a lot. He decided to extend his vacation to help with Katie and spend time with his daughters. It was different to have Dad around so much. Nice, but different. I did notice the tension between Quil and Dad didn't seem as harsh. Maybe hanging around Quil more made Dad see this imprint thing wasn't a bad thing at all, but instead it was a great thing. A wonderful thing. Quil and I did tone it down a bit when Dad was around. We didn't hold hands and I stayed off his lap, but we still sat really close. Quil continued to be gracious and gentlemanly towards me, but it seemed like he went a little overboard a time or two trying to prove to my dad that he could take care of me. Every once in a while I caught my dad observing us. He would quickly look away with a huff when he knew I had caught him.

Mom, Aunt Emily, and Tala went out of town to visit Leah for the weekend. My dad offered to stay at the house while she was gone. I was excited he planned on staying with us because of his company and he was a much better cook than my mom. I must have gotten that cooking gene from him. But, on the other hand, I was slightly disappointed because Quil made it known he would not stay overnight while Dad was there even though we haven't even been sleeping in the same bed for a few weeks now. Not after his dreams and real life got scrambled in his head and he practically dry-humped me one morning. Quil didn't want my dad thinking he was sneaking from the couch to my room in the middle of the night either.

"Hey Rob," I caught Rob's attention as he poured cereal for Katie on the counter Saturday morning. Rob had shown up bright and early to spend the entire day doting on Katie and waiting on her hand and food.

"What?" He looked over at me in mid-pour of the milk.

"You know Katie can do that all by herself, right?" I smiled as Katie threw me an annoyed look.

"What do you mean?" Rob asked and looked over to Katie for confirmation.

Katie huffed, "Claire, shush!"

I ignored her. "Katie hobbles around the house on that thing," I pointed to her walking cast, "and does almost everything by herself."

"You do?" Rob asked. He looked confused, but amused.

"Claire, you're such a…" Katie said under her breath then looked up sweetly at Rob. "Well I thought you liked waiting on me so I let ya. You just seemed really eager to."

"Does it bother you?" Rob asked.

"No!" Katie said in a tone implying that his question was silly.

"Ok. When I'm around I'll keep doing what I'm doing. And yes, I like to." Rob stated as he sat the cereal bowl in front of Katie and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Katie turned to me and stuck out her tongue.

"Barf," I said with a smile. I wouldn't admit it out loud, but they were too cute.

Katie was slowly making her way through recovery. She was back to school, but still needed help washing herself, doing her hair and, getting dressed. Since mom was gone for the weekend, that responsibility was on me. Rob and Dad would take up the slack with the non-personal duties. Although she could still do a lot of things for herself, she would get frustrated with some things we all took for granted.

"So, tonight's the big date with Quil?" Katie asked between mouthfuls of cereal.

"Um," I quickly looked at Rob for his reaction. I noticed he furrowed his eyebrow a bit, but continued to eye his newspaper. "I wouldn't really call it a date." It certainly was a date, but I wasn't going to make a big deal of it in front of Rob. "We're just going to dinner and the concert in the park."

"It is _so_ a date!" Katie practically squealed. I looked at Rob but he continued to pretend to ignore the conversation. I looked at Katie and tossed my head towards Rob silently asking her not to talk about dating Quil in front of her boyfriend.

"Oh don't worry about Rob," Katie replied, catching my meaning. "He knows about your relationship with Quil."

I quickly looked at Rob, shocked by what Katie just revealed. He still looked at the paper but bobbed his head in agreement.

"He does?" I asked Katie. She nodded enthusiastically. "What exactly did you tell him?" Did she tell him about the imprinting? About the wolves? Sam would flip.

"I _told_ him that Quil has been a family friend forever and you two have always been close. And how, recently, you declared your undying love for him and he felt the same, but he doesn't think it's right to pursue a romantic relationship with you while you're still in high school so you're laying low until you're eighteen." Her answer sounded rehearsed, but pretty accurate. The "undying love" portion was a bit much and made me sound like a love-sick teenager.

"Oh God," I groaned and couldn't look at Rob. "Thanks for spilling my personal issues to your boyfriend." I chanced a look up at Rob and he didn't seem disgusted or anything. "How did it all come up anyway?" I asked.

"Quil gave you a promise ring for your birthday," Rob finally spoke up. "I thought it was slightly weird…so I asked Katie about it," Rob said. "Sorry. I didn't mean to butt into your business." He added apologetically. I knew Rob wasn't one to pry or gossip, so I wasn't upset. I was actually a little relieved.

"So, you think it's weird?" I asked Rob.

"It's a little weird." Rob smiled and nodded. "But you two are really cool and for some reason it's not like creepy or anything because of the age difference. You two, I don't know, just fit," He tried to explain.

"Yeah," I giggled. "It is a little weird."

"What's weird?" Quil's voice interrupted our conversation.

"I told Rob about you and Claire," Katie blurted out before I could explain properly.

"What?" Quil glared at Katie.

"Hey, it's ok," Rob cut in. "I'm not creeped out by it or anything. Really." Quil looked bewildered by Rob's attitude.

Before anything was revealed that shouldn't have been, I asked Katie to enlighten Quil. I'm pretty sure she repeated everything word for word as if she were reading it from a script.

I watched as Quil's body relaxed and sunk into the chair next to mine.

"Oh, ok then." Quil sighed. The way he was acting made it look like he was ashamed of our relationship, which in a way he kind of was, but I knew he was more relieved Katie hadn't spilled the beans. Rob must have interpreted it that way because he patted Quil on the arm and said, "Hey it's cool. You love who you love," as he looked at Katie and winked. Katie's smile beamed from the other side of the table to Rob.

I just knew Katie and Rob would be together forever, just like Quil and I, and someday Rob would know the truth about my relationship with Quil.

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**So, whatcha think? The next chapter is about half written and it's the date! I'll try to hurry...I promise. Thanks for sticking in there.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hello everyone! Are you still with me? I hope so. Have at it...I'll see you at the bottom :)**

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Chapter 25

Most of my Saturday was spent hanging out with my dad, Kim, and Rob playing cards and board games. The weather outside was horrible and I only hoped the rain would clear up before the concert started since we would be sitting outside in the park. Quil had to run a patrol around La Push so he wasn't able to hang around with us. He switched patrol shifts with Brady in order to go on our date to the concert. Spending time with Dad without Quil around was more relaxing than having to stress about how they acted around each other.

"I think we can call it quits on this game," My dad said. "It seems Rob owns just about every property on the board. And what he doesn't have, Katie owns."

"What can I say, Jack, I'm a good businessman." Rob laughed as he started to pick up the mess we made with the Monopoly game on the coffee table. I hated Monopoly because I've never won. It didn't matter who I played against.

"Claire, wanna run with me to the store to pick up some steaks for dinner?" Dad asked me. Without hearing my answer he continued, "How many do I need?" He said to himself. "You staying, Rob?"

"Sure! I am getting hungry."

"Dad, I'll go but I'm not eating dinner here. Quil and I have our…uh, thing."

"Oh, yeah. The concert." Dad seemed disappointed. I waited for a lecture, but he didn't start one. "How about I get some stuff for breakfast too then. I can show you how to make biscuits and homemade sausage gravy!" Dad seemed excited to show me something new. I was excited to learn because I knew Quil would love the end results.

"You _are_ coming home tonight, right?" Dad asked with a clench in his jaw.

"Yes, of course," I smiled. Dad relaxed. "Ok, well let's go."

I fidgeted in my dad's car, checking out his music collection and fingering through the candy stash in his console while he drove down the road to the grocery store.

"Where did you learn to make sausage gravy?" I asked Dad to make conversation. Dad startled at my question as if his mind was elsewhere and he just realized I was next to him the car.

"Oh, um, your great grandma Cooper," he answered quickly. "So, are you still planning on culinary school?"

"Yeah, I would like to. Those types of schools don't care about your grades in math, you know?" I smiled. Along with Dad's cooking skills, I also inherited his lack of math skills.

"What school were you thinking about?" he asked.

"There are a couple in Seattle. I'd prefer to stay close to home." _Close to Quil._

"What about Quil? Is he ok with this?" Dad glanced sideways towards me. I looked back at him trying to read his expression. He never likes to talk about Quil. I wondered what information he was trying to get out of me.

"I don't know. We haven't really talked about it. He knows that's what I want to do and there aren't any schools around here. Plus it's my decision. I don't need to ask him." I replied with a shrug. Many of my decisions did revolve around Quil, but I knew they didn't have to. As much as it would be hard to live away from Quil, it wouldn't be that long, not like a regular college. If it was too hard, Quil could come live closer to me. Many of the other wolves have followed their imprints around the country, Quil could do that too. That is, if he wanted to.

Dad smirked in reply. I think he liked my answer. It seemed he liked to know that just because Quil and I were imprinted didn't mean I had to give up on my dreams. I didn't think Quil would let me give up on my dream of being a chef because he knew it would make me happy. And, Quil would reap the benefits.

I watched the sun start to peek out from behind the clouds and hoped the weather would cooperate for the concert. I tapped my fingers on the car door to the classic rock station playing in the car. Dad and I were quiet for a few more minutes before Dad spoke up again.

"So, how's Quil doing with his change thing? Does he have it under control?" Dad asked nervously. He kept his eyes on the road but his hands were restless on the steering wheel. I wondered where he was going with this line of questioning.

"Yeah, he's been changing for so long it's not a problem anymore. I've rarely seen Quil lose his temper. The last time he did was the other day and before that," I paused, thinking, "I can't even remember, actually."

"The other day?" Dad asked. He looked worried and upset.

"At school. On my birthday." I clarified. I knew he heard what had happened. I even told him that Quil defended my honor. "You know, when Jason said that _stuff_ about me."

"Did he almost change on you or something?"

"No, he had it under control," I defended Quil. "It was like his body was vibrating because he was so upset with Jason. He wouldn't have changed. He wouldn't have let that happen. All I had to do was touch him and he calmed down."

Dad grunted in reply with a scowl on his face. I wasn't sure if he was disturbed by my touching Quil or by the fact Quil came close to changing in anger for the first time in years.

As we pulled into the store parking lot Dad sat in the car for a moment before opening his door and glanced over towards me. I could tell he had something else to say so I paused too and waited.

"He's good to you?" Dad asked quietly.

I nodded and smiled. Was my dad getting closer to accepting Quil? I could feel the warmth from tears building behind my eyes from the thought of my dad _finally_ coming around. I'm not sure what had changed his mind, but I sure wasn't going to ask. I would let Dad come around in his own time. I didn't want to push anything.

"Yeah, Dad. He is." I answered through the lump in my throat. With that, Dad got out of the car and I followed him into the store.

I sat on the couch watching the weather, displeased to see another patch of wetness ready to hit the Port Angeles area right about the time the concert would start. I knew the concert would go on as long as lightening didn't threaten to crash around us, but I didn't want to get drenched and I'm pretty sure umbrellas were not allowed during the show.

"Are you ready to go?" Quil burst through door and found me slumped on the couch in front of the TV. "What's wrong?" He asked once he saw the obvious disappointment on my face.

"It's gonna start raining again," I whined. Quil laughed and held out his hand to help me off the couch.

"Who cares?" Quil said excitedly. He had been keyed up for this concert since he found out we were going. "Just bring your rain poncho and you'll be all set. I've got the tarp and blanket for sitting on the lawn." He paused and looked me up and down. "But you can't wear that shirt."

"What wrong with this shirt?" I looked down at my loose-fitting peasant top. I thought it was cute. As a matter of fact, I think Quil bought it for me.

"It's white." _Oh_. "I don't need people checking out my Claire-Bear." He answered with a quirk of his eyebrow and kissed my forehead. Of course, that's when my dad decided to enter the room.

Dad cleared his throat to let us know he was there and Quil stepped away from me quickly. Dad nodded towards Quil as a greeting. Quil looked confused; my dad never greeted him, but replied with a nod of his own anyway.

"You taking off?" Dad asked me, looking down at the ground while he shuffled his feet a little. I smiled at his actions because it seemed like a natural "Dad" thing to do; to see his little girl off on a date.

"Yep," I answered.

"What time are you going to have her home?" Dad addressed Quil, but didn't look him in the eyes.

I saw the corner of Quil's mouth turn up a little at the question. Quil wasn't used to answering to anyone when he and I went out, but he decided to humor my dad anyway.

"Well, sir," Quil started. _Sir?_ I tried to control my smile. The whole situation was so weird. "The concert starts at seven with a couple acts. It should last a few hours…so probably around midnight…one at the latest." Dad nodded. "But Claire was going to change her shirt first."

"Oh yeah."

"And maybe grab some extra clothes, just in case we get caught in the rain." Quil added. "It's a long ride back in cold, wet clothes."

I turned around towards my room to change my shirt, not sure if I wanted to leave Dad and Quil alone. I didn't want anything to ruin the night. I quickly grabbed extra clothes and my second choice of tops out of the closet, another peasant top but blue, and stopped by the hall closet to grab my rain coat. I thought about possibly being caught in the rain and knew if that happened my hair would be a crazy mess. I detoured to the bathroom and pulled my hair up into a ponytail. I usually looked much younger with my hair up, but I thought it made me look more feminine with my blousy shirt at the same time.

When I returned to the living room I wasn't sure what to make of the scene. Dad's head was still softly nodding and Quil's eyebrows knitted together. There was an expression on Quil's face I couldn't decipher. Was it confusion or annoyance? I couldn't tell. I looked back and forth between the two men and waited to see if anything was going to be said, but neither of them spoke up.

"Ok, I'm ready." I told Quil and reached towards Dad for a quick sideways hug. Dad patted my shoulder.

"Have a good time," Dad said and walked back to the kitchen as Quil and I walked out the front door.

I looked at Quil as he ushered me towards his car. "What was that all about?"

Quil just shrugged and let out an amused, breathy laugh. "I'm not sure, but I don't think your dad _hates_ me anymore."

"Oh my gosh, pasta is so filling," I lounged on the blanket next to Quil and rubbed my bloated tummy. "Seriously, check out this gut." I pushed out my stomach, trying to exaggerate my non-existent paunch.

"You do _not_ have a gut." Quil laughed and pulled my ponytail. "And you barely ate anything."

"Compared to you I barely ate anything. Good thing that gift certificate was enough to cover four meals." I replied with a poke to Quil's stomach and cuddled into his side, wrapping my arm around his middle. "I can't believe you're eating an elephant ear."

"How can I not?" Quil asked after licking his fingers. "They're right there." Quil pointed towards the greasy food truck only feet away.

Quil and I weren't usually affectionate in public, but the air started to chill and my body was drawn towards his warmth. The rain hadn't started up again yet, but there was a definite dampness in the air indicating that it would soon enough. Quil's arm instinctively wrapped around me and he kissed my head, leaving a cinnamon and sugar imprint on my forehead.

The lawn filled up quickly and once the bands started to play we stood up with the rest of the crowd to get the best view. We danced and enjoyed the music, singing along with the band at the top of our lungs. Quil stood behind me and grabbed my arms from behind, making me do some odd windmill dance. I laughed as he got carried away with the music. When a slower song started Quil and I remained standing and he pulled me back into his chest. He pressed his lips into my cheek and sang the lyrics into my ear while we swayed to the music. Between all the dancing and Quil's overly warm body I stayed toasty even though the storm winds started to blow strongly.

The storm finally blew in the rain clouds and the drizzle started to fall heavier into a steady shower. Luckily the band was playing the final encore when the worst of the rain hit. We stayed until the very end. Quil asked me repeatedly if I was ready to go, but I told him I would stay as long as he wanted do. I didn't complain too much because I knew he was having a great time and the rain never bothered him. I didn't want to ruin his fun. When it was time to leave everyone in the audience who remained was drenched and several people darted to the nearest exit to run to the shelter of their cars or the nearest establishment that was still open.

"Hop on!" Quil instructed and pointed to his back. I hopped on and securely latched myself onto Quil's back, giggling once he took off running. I let his warmth seep into me, but I was still getting soaked from the storm. I was grateful Quil suggested a change of clothes so I didn't have to wear the wet clothes home.

We finally made it to the car and once I hopped off Quil's back my teeth started to chatter.

"Hurry, get inside the back and change before you catch pneumonia or something," Quil suggested as he unlocked the car door. I crawled in and rummaged through my duffle bag to pull out my dry clothes. I peeled off my wet shirt while Quil blocked the view in front of the opened door, tapping the beat of a song in his head on top of his car.

Before I pulled on my dry shirt Quil yelled from outside without peeking in at me. "Can you throw me my dry clothes?" I held my dry shirt up to my chest, grabbed Quil's dry shorts that sat next to me, and leaned towards the door to hand over the shorts. One of Quil's hands reached in, throwing his wet t-shirt on the floor of the car with a sloppy smack. Quil continued to reach, silently asking for the dry shorts as his other hand started to unzip his pants. It would soon be my turn to turn away while he changed.

A bright light made the inside of the car glow and I instinctively made sure my almost-bare chest was covered as I looked up in confusion, trying to figure out where the light was coming from. I looked out the back windshield and the brightness from the light was blinding.

"Shit." Quil said under his breath. "Good evening officer." _Crap, the cops. _I knew the situation didn't look good at that moment. Quil and I were both half naked. The way Quil had started to undo his pants, the way he leaned up against the care, and my position on my knees, could have given the impression I was pleasuring Quil.

I hastily threw my shirt over my head while ducking down as low as I could, knowing very well the bright light would show everything happening in the back seat of Quil's car.

"Please step towards the front of the car with your hands out and place them on the hood." The police officer asked. My heart started to hammer in my chest. This was not going to be good at all. Quil knew his size was intimidating so I knew he would do whatever the officer asked. He didn't say a word as he moved slowly towards the front of the cars. I heard the policeman approach the car and he carefully leaned his head in to look in at me with his flashlight, not entirely taking his eyes off Quil.

"I'm Officer Torres. Are you ok, Miss?"

"Yes," I squeaked nervously. "It's not what it looks like…"

The officer interrupted me by holding up his hand. "Just sit tight, ok? I'll be right back to talk to you." I nodded and settled back in the seat. Apparently I didn't look threatening because he turned his back on me and slowly approached Quil.

_Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. Please let this be over quickly._ My heart continued to pound in my chest as I strained to hear the conversation between Quil and the officer.

"Have you been drinking tonight?" I heard Torres ask and I could hear the clear sound of Quil being patted down.

"No, I haven't, sir. I don't drink."

"Any drugs or anything in your pockets that I should be aware of?"

"No, just my wallet sir." Quil sounded calm and cool. A lot more composed than I was at the moment.

There was a pause and I peeked out to see what was going on. The officer pulled out Quil's driver's license and read it thoroughly.

"Well, Mr. Ateara, it says here that you are thirty years old. Is that correct?"

I heard Quil pull in a deep breath and sigh. His arms were still on the hood of the car and his face looked forward. We both seemed to realize where this line of questioning was headed.

"Yes, sir, that's correct."

"And the young lady in the car, how old is she?" _Shit._

"She's seventeen, sir."

"How do you two know each other?"

"She's practically family, sir."

"What were you two doing this evening?"

"We were at the concert in the park and were just changing out of our wet clothes since we have to drive back to La Push." I could hear the tension in Quil's voice. He could figure out the reason behind the questions and, as usual, he started to get upset. _Please stay calm Quil._

"Just sit tight. If you could just sit on the ground while I talk to the young lady."

"Yes, sir." Quil answered Officer Torres through clenched teeth. I'm sure it annoyed Quil that the cop made him sit on the soggy ground.

As Officer Torres walked towards the back of the car I heard him talk into the walkie on his shoulder spewing out police jargon I didn't understand. It sounded like he may have called for another officer.

"Please step out of the car, miss." Torres asked.

"But it's raining." I answered, my teeth chattering.

"Out of the car, now." His voice sounded more forceful with me than it had been with Quil. I quickly stepped out and tried to shield the rain drops from my face. My dry shirt slowly started to become as wet as the old one. I chanced a look at Quil and I could see his searing gaze towards the officer.

Once I was out of the car Torres started to interrogate me with the same questions. The police officer's tone was more unpleasant with me, maybe because I was the less threatening between Quil and me. I could tell Quil watched the officer carefully, making sure he didn't upset me or do anything disrespectful. I hoped, for all of our sakes, he didn't make Quil too upset.

"How did you say you knew Mr. Ateara?" He asked as he read my license. I already answered this question, but I sighed and answered again.

"We're close friends."

"_Close_ friend?" The officer repeated. I realized my mistake. I had only called him a "friend" the first time.

"Um, yes. Friends."

"You said _close_. How close?" He gave me a smug smile as to say "now we're getting somewhere." It was like he was trying to find something to get both Quil and I in trouble.

"Um, I've known him since I was two. He…he…he and I are close friends. That's all." I knew my stuttering and quick, nervous glances towards Quil didn't help my story, but I couldn't seem to calm down. I didn't want to get anyone in trouble. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Quil rub his face uneasily.

I could tell the Officer Torres knew he thought he had me.

"What would your parents think if I told them what I saw happening in the back seat of this car?" Torres asked with a smirk.

"Nothing was happening!" I shrieked. "We were just changing our wet clothes. That's all!"

"That's not what it looked like to me," he continued. "It looked like Mr. Ateara here was taking advantage of a young lady just under age."

I heard Quil groan from the front of the car.

"No! No, he wouldn't do that. We haven't done anything like that." I started to panic. I didn't want to ruin this perfect date, but my instinct to protect Quil kicked in. I started to raise my voice.

"Do you know anything about the statutory rape laws in the state of Washington?"

"Rape! He didn't rape me? Whatever happens between us is consensual!" That last part blurted out before I realized the consequences behind it. I heard Quil scold me under his breath.

"So _that's_ how close you are." Torres stated. It wasn't a question.

"No, that's not what I meant." I rushed out trying to save the situation.

"Please get back in the car Miss Cooper," he told me as he called another officer in. I didn't get back in the car right away.

"What are you going to do? We didn't do anything."

"Miss Cooper, get back in the car now!" Torres said. His eyes were hard. "We're going to take your boyfriend in and call your parents."

"Are you arresting him? We didn't do anything!" I repeated. I started to walk towards Quil wanting to shield him from this jerk of a police officer.

"Claire, just stop. It will be ok." Quil said softly.

Officer Torres gently placed his hand on the back of my arm. It didn't hurt but I flinched from the contact anyway. Quil noticed immediately and stood up quickly with a low growl, startling Torres. Torres eyes widened and he immediately drew his gun. I could feel my face fall in shock and my body started to tremble. I knew Quil could heal from a lot of different injuries, but a bullet to the head or chest was not one of them.

"Sit back down now!" Torres yelled to Quil. Quil's hands slowly spread before him as he gracefully sat back down on the ground. He dark eyes glared back and forth between the gun and my eyes. I was pretty sure Quil worried more about the gun being so close to me rather than getting shot himself.

"Miss Cooper," Torres addressed me sternly, but kept his eye on Quil, "back in the car. Now."

"Ok," I choked out and slumped into the back seat. Just then another police squad car pulled up with his red and blue lights flashing. Another burly officer jumped out and immediately went to Quil and placed handcuffs around his wrists, behind his back. Quil knew if either of the officers treated me badly he could easily snap the cuffs off his wrists and come to my rescue. But, Quil easily surrendered to both officers and I watched from the back of Quil's car as they shoved him into the backseat of the squad car. My eyes started to well up with tears.

Officer Torres returned to me and asked me to grab Quil's car keys and anything else I needed from the car before placing me in the back of his car for the ride to the police station. I sat quietly in the back and wondered what would become of Quil. My body still trembled slightly. Were they going to arrest him for just being with a minor, even though they didn't have proof of anything going on? We weren't even kissing or holding hands or anything! I understood how the scene might have looked, but Quil was only shielding me from view of others while I changed my wet clothes. I didn't know what I needed to say to make them see the whole scenario was innocent. Maybe if I didn't freak out on the officer when he mentioned rape we wouldn't be in this situation right now.

A sob escaped my lips and I immediately covered my mouth to prevent anymore to slip out. I didn't want Officer Torres to know how upset I was. He didn't talk to me for the entire ride to the station.

Once we arrived to the station I followed Torres' orders and walked into the building. I watched as two officers pushed Quil into the building. I tried to contain my temper to make sure I didn't cause any more damage. Once inside, Torres asked me for my parent's phone number.

"Why? What's going on?"

"You were with a man twice your age that you are not related to. As much as I would like to throw him in jail, I didn't technically catch you doing anything. But if your parents want to press charges after hearing what I saw, then I certainly will." He finished with a disturbing grin.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. My mom would definitely not press charges against Quil. _Oh shit. Mom wasn't home._ Mom was out for a girl's weekend.

"So what parent am I calling?" Torres asked impatiently.

With a sigh I said, "My dad," and gave him my home number where I knew my dad sat and waited for me to come home.

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**A/N: dun dun duuuuunnn... hee hee What do you think? My friend thought Officer Torres over reacted a bit. But they were both half-dressed and Quil scared Torres with his growl and enormous size! My sister thought it was perfect because she's experienced policemen who have been a-holes like that.**

**So what do y'all think Daddy Jack with do? Will this screw up any progress he has made with Quil and give him the chance to get rid of Quil? Or will Jack totally defend his daughter and not press charges against Quil?**

**I love hearing from you. Let me know what you think! I'll try not to leave you hanging too long.**

**Shelby**


	26. Chapter 26

**Do I still have readers out there? Here's another short chapter for you. **

* * *

**_Chapter 26_**

My nails were bitten to nubs and my shoe kept an insistent tapping noise on the floor. I noticed the constant noise started to annoy Officer Torres, so I kept it up even though my leg got tired of bouncing.

On the other side of the room the stench from the burning coffee was so bad I finally had to walk over and turn the burner off. One of the policemen asked me to "make another pot, would ya sweetie?" I glared at him, did _not_ make another pot, and returned to my uncomfortable bench in the police station lobby to wait for my dad to show up.

According to the clock, I had been waiting for two hours and twenty four minutes. It seemed much longer, like I had been on that uncomfortable bench the entire night. Of course Officer Torres didn't call my Dad as soon as we got to the station. The drive from La Push would take Dad about an hour and forty minutes. My hair was still damp and I was still chilled from getting wet at the outdoor concert. The police department was as cold as a refrigerator. _What__'__s__taking__Dad__so__long?_ To top it all off they wouldn't let me see Quil. I wasn't exactly sure where they kept him. Did they put him in a "holding cell" or whatever it is they called it? Back with the drunks and common criminal who caused trouble on the streets? When I asked Torres where Quil went he just pointed to the bench and told me to "sit tight." What the hell does that mean anyway? _Sit__tight_.

I was so eager to get out of that place, but anxious to see my dad's reaction to what had happened. Would getting a phone call from the cops be a major set-back to how Jack felt towards Quil? It really did seem like Dad was coming around. Would he believe Quil and me over Officer Torres?

Just when I thought I might doze off on the hard bench, I heard the main doors open and watched as my dad stomped towards me. First, I was relieved to see him so he could take Quil and me home, but the look on his face made me shrink back to the bench.

"Where is he?" Dad growled.

"Dad, it's not what you think…" I started to defend Quil, but Dad continued.

"Where's this Torres character? What the hell does he think he's doing bringing my daughter into a police station?"

_Wait__a__minute.__He__'__s__angry__with__the__policeman?_I was shocked and in awe of how my dad was defending me even though he didn't know what was going on.

"Mr. Cooper, I'm Officer Torres. I spoke with you on the phone." He offered his hand to my dad with a smirk on his face, but Dad didn't take it. With a cough Torres's smirk fell from his face, maybe realizing Dad wasn't quite on his side.

"Please, have a seat." Officer Torres gestured to the chair in front of his desk. Dad sat with a huff and I quickly moved to the chair beside him.

With an impatient growl Dad didn't wait for Torres to start. "I want you to tell me why you are holding my daughter and Quil in custody and making me drive all the way from the rez to get them out of jail."

"Mr. Cooper, Mr. Ateara has not been arrested. We are holding him here for questioning because he was found with a minor in a compromising position…"

"We weren't doing anything wrong, Dad, I swear!" I interrupted, pleading with my dad to understand.

"Ms. Cooper, please," Torres started with a condescending grin. "I know what I saw and I'm just relaying the facts. Why don't you take a seat over there while I talk to your dad." He pointed to the uncomfortable bench.

"She stays here and I want to hear her side of the story too." Dad said to Officer Torres. "You first."

"Listen Mr. Cooper, I'm not trying to be the bad guy here. I just don't want a poor young lady to be taken advantage of by a man twice her age." Torres continued. I started to interrupt, but Dad cut me off with a look.

"I'm listening." Dad said as he relaxed in his chair, resting his left ankle over his right knee.

Torres imitated Dad's position on his side of the desk. If I hadn't known any better it would have looked like two friends talking about sports or their favorite fishing spot, except Dad's glare didn't fit with his casual tone. Torres' grinned my way again as if he were saying "gotcha."

"I was working the concert and noticed your daughter and Mr. Ateara being very…_cozy_." Torres started, emphasizing the word cozy like it was a dirty word or something. I looked at him in shock, not remembering ever seeing him at the concert. "I noticed she seemed much younger than him so I decided to follow them."

"You followed us?" I asked in shock. _Frickin__' __creeper._

"What do you mean by cozy?" Dad asked as he put his hand on my arm, silently asking me to be patient.

"They were dancing together and hugging at times." Torres said.

"Any kissing involved?" Dad asked. I gave him a quick look and hid my face from embarrassment. Two men talking about Quil's and my actions was just too much.

"No, not really. I just saw Mr. Ateara kiss the top of her head a couple of times." _Gross__…__how__long__was__he__gawking__at__us?_

"So, that was reason to follow them?"

"Like I said, Mr. Cooper, I didn't want an older man taking advantage of a girl her age. And, I'm glad I did follow them because I found your daughter in the back seat of Mr. Ateara's car without her shirt on and Mr. Aetara standing right outside the door half dressed, getting ready to take off his pants."

_Oh__God,__please__strike__me__down__right__now.__How__much__more__embarrassing__can__this__get?_ I thought with a groan. I couldn't even look at my dad. I couldn't tell if he was falling for his bullshit story or not, which actually wasn't a bullshit story because so far he was telling the facts. Torres was just interpreting them incorrectly. I knew I would get my turn, so I let Torres continue.

"They both told me nothing was going on, but that's not what I saw." Torres continued.

"What do you think you saw?" Dad asked.

"It looked to me like she was about to perform fellatio on Mr. Ateara." Torres said flatly.

I covered my face with my hands. My face became hot; I'm sure it was beet red. _God,__where__'__s__that__lightning__bolt__I__asked__for?_

Dad started to chuckle. It was a humorless chuckle, but it seemed so out of place with the conversation. It was more like a "I can't believe this is happening" chuckle. I looked up at him and he was pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head slowly.

Dad drew in a deep breath and sighed. "Ok, Claire. It's your turn."

I cleared my throat, but still started with a squeak. "Yes, Quil and I were dancing together and may have been hugging a little, but I was not about to perform…do _that_ to him." I said as I glared at Officer Torres.

Dad held up his hand to get my attention. "Ok, ok. Why was your shirt off?" he asked.

"It started to pour down rain as we were running back to the car and I got soaked. Even through my rain coat. Quil told me to get in the back and change while he stood guard. You know I took dry clothes, Dad. You were home when we left. You saw me bring my bag."

"Why didn't Mr. Ateara just shut the car door?" Torres interrupted. "Why did he stand there next to you with it open?"

"I needed the light from the dome to see. It was dark." I explained. The light was really dim, but it was better than nothing.

"Weren't you afraid someone could see in?" Torres interrogated.

"No, not with Quil there." I said. How would I explain that Quil could see clearly in the dark and would warn me ahead of time if someone was getting too close? Just as he warned me that Officer Torres was nearby with his beacon of a flashlight, but I was too slow to put a shirt on.

"Well I could see in and I saw you topless with your face in front of your boyfriend's waist." Torres countered. His voice started to rise and his face slowly turned red.

"I was handing him a dry shirt!"

"Hey!" Dad smacked his table on Torres' desk. "I would appreciate it if you would stop talking to my daughter like that. She's not the one being held. Besides, I've heard enough. I want to talk to Quil now."

"Very well, sir." Torres leered my way and led my dad towards the back of the station where I assumed Quil was being held.

I quickly moved from Torres' desk to the uncomfortable bench. I didn't want to be anywhere near Torres if he returned without my dad or Quil. I didn't know what that man's problem was, but he was obviously having a boring day and needed to cause a stir.

Being tired, stressed, and chilled to the bone was finally catching up to me. I could feel all my emotions from the last few hours building up but I didn't want them to burst through in the police station. I didn't want Torres to know he had gotten to me. But I couldn't help it. I pulled my knees up to my chest, curling into a ball. My eyes started to water and my nose started to run and I couldn't control the sob that broke through.

I knew nothing bad was going on between Quil and me, but I could see how it looked between us. I knew how others outside the pack perceived our situation. If they only knew what our relationship was really about. If they only knew that Quil and I would die for each other. We were mates in almost every meaning of the word. They wouldn't see a thirty year old man taking advantage of a seventeen year old girl. They would see that we had one of the strongest bonds only a few knew of.

I don't know how long I sat waiting on that bench curled up within myself. I think I may have fallen asleep, but all of a sudden I was aware of a pair of warm, familiar arms carefully wrapping around me, carrying me out of the police station. I could feel the chill I had been carrying seep away from me as Quil's body heat surrounded me. I felt comfortable and safe and somehow knew things were going to be ok for the time being.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, I'm thinking about finishing up this little story. There's not a lot of loose ends, is there? Let me know if there is anything else you want me to clear up. Obviously, the big one is Quil's reluctance to move his relationship with Claire further so maybe I'll fast forward to when Claire is a little older.**

**I have a feeling you may want to hear what Quil and Jack had to say to each other in the police station before Torres released Quil. I'm going to work on that chapter as an outtake since it's not in Claire's POV. **

**Thanks so everyone who is still hanging in there! I know I'm slow at updating and I truly apologize. I know I hate waiting for updates on the stories I like.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

"I'm so glad you're here, Dad." I quietly said as I leaned into him.

"Me too, Claire-Bear." Jack replied with a proud smile.

"Dad, I'm minutes away from being an old married woman. I don't think my childhood nickname is suitable anymore." I had been struggling the past few years to have that name dropped, especially by Quil. It made me feel like a kid. I was done feeling like a kid around Quil.

"You'll always be my Claire-Bear." I smiled and decided not to argue with my dad. I blushed when he continued. "You look so beautiful. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad. Now stop before I start to cry and ruin my make-up." I gripped Dad's arm as we waited for the music to signal it was our turn to walk down the aisle.

I had been waiting for this day since I was knocked in the face with a spiked volleyball on the beach; the day I feel in love with Quil Ateara. Today I would marry my best friend. My soul mate. My wolf. Quil and I would finally be husband and wife.

It took a long time for Quil to fully accept and understand his feelings for me. It was infuriating, but _finally_ Quil came to terms with the fact that it was okay that he wanted to be with me intimately. It was alright that I was so much younger than him. The day finally came when he saw me for the woman he was in love with. Not the child he thought he was taking advantage of.

After I graduated high school, after two years of culinary and pastry school, Quil let me know he was ready to take our relationship to the next step. I thought he was ready to get intimate. I thought he was ready to go past making out and touching every so often. I was excited to think of everything else we could try. But no, taking the next step to Quil meant getting married. I was all for that, but after almost three years of minimal contact, I had developed a creative imagination. Sometimes I would fill Quil in on some of those fantasies and he would find an excuse to shut me up or leave me alone. I finally kept quiet and didn't tell him anything else. I was sick of being a virgin with a hot boyfriend who I wanted to do naughty things with!

But Quil's mind was set on waiting until we were married. My jaw dropped and my body deflated when he told me he wanted to wait to have sex until we were married. I may have whined a little bit too. At first it really made me feel unattractive and insecure. I was constantly putting myself out there, trying to get noticed, but he usually ignored me. After Quil and I had a long talk and he explained he really did want to take our relationship further and my flirtatious actions were driving him insane, but he thought it would be more special if we were married. He said, "Making love to my wife sounded more romantic and special than doin' it with my girlfriend." How could I argue with that? "Plus," he added, "we've waited this long, so what is another year or so?" I told him he had the self-control of a monk and it infuriated me, so we were not waiting another year to get married and I wanted to elope that next weekend. We compromised with having the wedding within six months, so I grabbed the calendar and picked the first Saturday exactly six months later. I didn't care if it was a grand event or if I had the perfect dress. I've never been that that type of person. I decided six months was plenty of time to plan a small wedding with all my family and friends.

I heard the first few notes of the music Dad and I were waiting for and my heart started to race.

"That's our cue." Dad said quietly beside me. I pulled in a deep breath to calm my nerves. "You alright?" Dad asked with a teasing smile. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"Dad, stop." I giggled. "Not today." I tried to scold him, but I couldn't help but smile. "I'm fine. Perfect, actually."

After that dreadful night when my dad picked Quil and me up from the police station in Port Angeles, Dad was much more relaxed about my relationship with Quil. Gradually he ended up supporting us completely. To this day I don't know what happened between the two of them in that small room in the police station. Whatever happened, whatever it was Quil had said to my dad must have been the right thing to say. Quil became the son Jack never had. Quil and Rob both. Even though Dad still lived a few hours away, he visited more often and we all became closer. Especially after he became a grandfather for the first time.

Katie and Rob were married right after school and eleven months later had their first child. A girl they named Olivia.

"Well then, let's go." Dad gave my arm a light squeeze before he put one foot forward and led me down the aisle to my wolf waiting to marry me.

**a/n: That's it! I honestly couldn't think of anything else to work out with these two that wouldn't have dragged the story on too much longer or make it get boring. My whole idea was to get Quil so jealous that he finally accepted Claire as his mate as well as his imprint. And I wanted Jack to get over the whole relationship between Claire and Quil entirely. So, hopefully I satisfied that for you all. If you would like to hear any outtakes, I'm happy to see what I come up with. Just let me know and I'll see what I can do.**

**Happy New Year!**


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